US Criticisms and British Mollification (Autumn 1939 to Winter 1941–2)

During the period when the US was officially neutral there was substantial criticism of British trade practices in South America from a variety of sources both within the Roosevelt administration and in the US political and corporate establishment. The recurring theme of this criticism was that Britain was following policies ostensibly aimed at advancing the Allied war effort that in fact harmed US commercial interests in South America, while advancing Britain's own. This criticism took a number of forms, each relating to the policies applied by Britain towards South America. British censorship in the western hemisphere; measures of economic warfare, such as blacklisting; and Britain's export policy towards the region, particularly following the advent of the Lend-Lease bill: these were all policies that elicited criticism from within the US.These criticisms were not without foundation. It was always a long-term aim of the British government to retain commercial footholds in the region, and the distinction between attaining this goal and pursuing policies of more immediate concern in the region was not always clearly defined. But while on one level the criticisms of Britain in South America were a legitimate response to British connivance to sustain its own interests in the region, various groups within the US inflated these criticisms to advance their own agendas. The US business community sought to defend its long-term interests in South America, and saw criticism of Britain in the region as an opportunity to reduce their major competitor's standing.