David Rockefeller chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank, said here yesterday that concern for Jewish emigration and human rights in the Soviet Union should not be allowed to jeopardize U.S. trade relations with the USSR. “They’re very eager for detente and it would be too bad for economic relations to fall on that ground,” Rockefeller said during a lecture on economy before faculty and businessmen at Pace University.
Observing that “more heat than light” was generated by discussion of Soviet treatment of Jews and other dissidents. Rockefeller said Americans would not tolerate the Soviet Union’s interference in U.S. internal affairs in the course of negotiating trade relations.
Meanwhile, it was reported from Washington that the Nixon Administration is trying to separate U.S.-Soviet trade from the issue of Jewish emigration in legislation pending before the Senate. An Administration proposal to overcome support for the Jackson Amendment would reportedly allow Congress to use any criteria, including emigration, in judging future trade deals with Moscow if it would pass the Trade Reform Act without imposing restrictions on tariff relief and credits for the USSR.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
