Trading, American Style

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I'm rather struck by the fact that the author of the article on Jack Boles's trading company ("Our Man in Zurich, Tokyo, and Hong Kong," January) focuses on the Japanese trading companies and their position in the U.S. export market. For example, he pointed out that just nine Japanese trading companies handled the bulk of all Japanese trading company exports from the United States and that that amount totaled $17.3 billion in 1981.

It is useful to note that Philipp Bros., a unit of Phibro-Salomon, itself probably handled about $10 billion to $12 billion worth of exports from the United States in the same period. One can go on to point out that Sears Roebuck and General Electric Co. both set up large trading organizations in recent years.

The thrust of the article makes it appear that Mr. Boles is one of the first to recognize that trading is an important new factor of American life. Indeed, people are becoming more aware of trading. But it has been, and will continue to be, a lucrative area for those who can obtain the financing. What is new about it is not trading companies per se but the increased use of trading companies to move consumer or finished goods like wine, cameras, etc., rather than the industrial materials that so characterized the international trading companies to date.