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.[1][2] The United States Congress offered $800 million for post World War II rebuilding funds if the Bell Trade Act was ratified by the Philippine Congress. The specifics of the act required the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines be amended. The Philippine Congress approved the measure on July 2, two days before independence from the United States of America, and on September 18, 1946 approved a plebiscite to amend the Constitution of the Philippines.
Authored by Missouri Congressman C. Jasper Bell, the Bell Trade Act required:
Preferential tariffs on US products imported into the Philippines;
A 2:1 fixed exchange rate between the Philippine peso and the United States dollar;
No restrictions on currency transfers from the Philippines to the United States;
"Parity rights" granting U.S. citizens and corporations rights to Philippine natural resources equal to (in parity with) those of Philippine citizens, contrary to Article XIII in the 1935 Philippine Constitution, necessitating a constitutional amendment.[3]
The Bell Act, particularly the parity clause, was seen by critics as an inexcusable surrender of national sovereignty.[4] The pressure of the sugar barons, particularly those of President Roxas's home region of Western Visayas, and other landowner interests, however, was irresistible.[4]
In 1955, the Laurel–Langley Agreement revised the Bell Trade Act.[3] This treaty abolished the United States authority to control the exchange rate of the peso, made parity privileges reciprocal, extended the sugar quota, and extended the time period for the reduction of other quotas and for the progressive application of tariffs on Philippine goods exported to the United States.
^Schirmer, Daniel B; Shalom, Stephen Rosskamm (1987), The Philippines reader: a history of colonialism, neocolonialism, dictatorship, and resistance, South End Press, p. 88, ISBN 978-0-89608-275-5
^Kerkvliet, Benedict J (2002), The Huk rebellion: a study of peasant revolt in the Philippines (second ed.), Rowman & Littlefield, p. 150, ISBN 978-0-7425-1868-1
^ abAndersen, Regine (2008), Governing agrobiodiversity: plant genetics and developing countries, Ashgate, p. 218, ISBN 978-0-7546-4741-6.
^ abDolan, Ronald E, ed. (1991), Philippines: A Country Study, Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress
The BellTradeAct of 1946, also known as the Philippine TradeAct, was an act passed by the United States Congress specifying policy governing trade between...
April 30, 1946—the Tydings–McDuffie Act, of Philippine Rehabilitation Act, and the BellTradeAct or Philippine TradeAct. Both recommendations were accepted...
amendment to the Constitution of the Philippines, as required by the BellTradeAct, to provide parity rights between American and Philippine citizens....
colonial trade.... The economic effect in the United States from the granting of independence to the Philippines was unnoticeable, partly due to the Bell Trade...
privileged access to US markets. The agreement replaced the unpopular BellTradeAct, which tied the economy of the Philippines to that of United States...
related with the looming congressional vote on the approval of the BellTradeAct with the United States. Nonetheless, Santos was again elected to the...
Philippine Constitution or to the act of pushing an initiative (national or local) allowed by the Initiative and Referendum Act of 1987. While the Supreme Court...
remained dependent on the U.S. This was due to the BellTradeAct, otherwise known as the Philippine TradeAct, which was a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation...
exchange for US rehabilitation funding. In particular, Luis opposed the BellTradeAct, the Parity Amendment to the Constitution, and the Military Bases Agreement...
become very dependent on the US economy. The Philippine TradeAct of 1946 or BellTradeAct at that time was being debated in both chambers of the Legislature...
qualified by legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. For example, the BellTradeAct provided a mechanism whereby U.S. import quotas might be established...
Constitution. This amendment, demanded by the Philippine Trade Relations Act or the BellTradeAct, would give American citizens and industries the right...
restraint to be prohibited by the Sherman Act, but was the means used to relate the prohibited restraint of trade to interstate commerce for constitutional...
rights to U.S. citizens was approved. That approval was required by the BellTradeAct of the United States Congress and led to the 1947 Philippine Parity...
Philippines signed the Laurel-Langley Agreement, which amended the BellTradeAct. The Laurel-Langley Agreement reduced the dependency of the Filipino...
2007, he was traded to San Diego, where he was a setup man before replacing Trevor Hoffman as the Padres' closer. From 2010 through 2011, Bell successfully...
of the Philippines Quezon, Manuel L. National Defense Act of 1935 Sergio Osmeña BellTradeAct Philippine Executive Commission Masaharu Homma Shizuichi...
169–70. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) Bell, Ernest Albert (1910), The War on the White Slave Trade (ebook), Chicago: GS Ball – via Archive. Emma...
Saved by the Bell is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday...
2022. Shalom, Stephen R. (August 1980). "Philippine Acceptance of the BellTradeAct of 1946: A Study of Manipulatory Democracy". Pacific Historical Review...
the presidency of Manuel Roxas, Araneta was a staunch critic of the BellTradeAct, which he criticized as keeping the Philippines economically subservient...
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