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The Bell Trade Act of 1946, also known as the Philippine Trade Act, was an act passed by the United States Congress specifying policy governing trade between the Philippines and the United States following independence of the Philippines from the United States.
This became the foundation of the controversial Bell Trade Act of 1946. In October 1945, President Osmeña also signed House Bill No. 608. This legislation authorized the participation of the Philippine Commonwealth Government in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank system following the Bretton-Woods Conference in July 1944.
For example, the Bell Trade Act provided a mechanism whereby U.S. import quotas might be established on Philippine articles which "are coming, or are likely to come, into substantial competition with like articles the product of the United States".
As a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation grants from the United States, the Philippines agreed to the Bell Trade Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Trade Act. This granted preferential tariffs on U.S. trade and pegged the peso to the U.S. dollar. [26] [27]
A plebiscite was held in the Philippines on March 11, 1947, [2] which determined the approval of an amendment to the Constitution of the Philippines, as required by the Bell Trade Act, to provide parity rights between American and Philippine citizens. The amendment was approved by 1,743,981 votes, with 226,238 votes cast against. [3]
This amendment, demanded by the Philippine Trade Relations Act or the Bell Trade Act, [39] would give American citizens and industries the right to utilize the country's natural resources in return for rehabilitation support from the United States. The President, with the approval of Congress, proposed this move to the nation through a plebiscite.
On June 21, he reappeared in another joint session of the Congress and urged the acceptance of two important laws passed by the U.S. Congress on April 30, 1946, regarding the Philippine lands. They are the Philippine Rehabilitation Act and the Philippine Trade Act. [73] [74] Both recommendations were accepted by the Congress. [citation needed]
Under the Bell Trade Act, the goods from the Philippines were granted tariff-free access to the American market, achieving one of Roxas's key aims; in exchange, he accepted pegging the Philippine peso to the U.S. dollar and American corporations were granted parity rights when it came to exploiting the minerals and forests of the Philippines. [48]