In the United States

Reactions in the United States


In the United States, the declaration by Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, met with unanimous approval. The Schuman Plan appeared to be the first step towards a European Federation and a single European market. The United States could only approve of closer ties between France and Germany and the break-up of the cartels in German heavy industry, since the creation of a united, Western Europe was one of its key foreign policy objectives.


Some American business circles feared that the creation of a European steel cartel would constitute an obstacle for American exports of steel to Europe and for free trade in general. However, this did not prevent the United States from trying, in vain, to bring pressure to bear on the British to accept the principle behind the Schuman Plan.

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