Dollar clause

The dollar clause was a regulation by the Allied Control Council in 1945 that required other countries to pay for their imports from Germany in US dollars .

Historical classification

The Allied Control Council of Germany passed a resolution regulating German foreign trade in September 1945 . This contained two important principles: the limitation of imports to subsistence needs and, second, the dollar clause.

The decision had the disadvantage for German industry that, due to the extensive limitation of imports to food, many of the industrial goods required could not be imported. At the same time, however, this so-called "first charge principle" was a wall against the attempt by European countries to receive free reparation deliveries from new production. In the western zones, the dollar clause remained in effect until 1949 .

literature

• Christoph Buchheim : The Federal Republic in the world economy. In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): The history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Volume 2: Economy (= Fischer pocket books. History 4421). Updated and expanded new edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-596-24421-8 , pp. 172-175.