China has been the main
communist trading partner outside Europe, with an annual volume of about
0.5 billion lei in 1968 and 1969.

_Table 6._ _Foreign Trade of Romania, by Groups of Countries, 1960 and
1969_ (in millions of lei)[1]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1960[2] 1969[2]
------------------------- ------------------------
Country Group Exports Imports Total Exports Imports Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western industrial states 918 913 1,831 2,980 4,432 7,412
COMECON[3] 2,821 2,636 5,458 5,042 4,819 9,862
Other communist states 318 206 524 781 506 1,286
Developing countries 245 131 376 996 686 1,682
----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ------
Total 4,302 3,887 8,189 9,799 10,443 20,242
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1: For value of leu, see Glossary.
2: Totals may not add because of rounding.
3: Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.
Source: Adapted from U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of
Technical Services, Joint Publications Research Service--JPRS
Series (Washington), _Translations on Eastern Europe: Economic
and Scientific Affairs_, "Foreign Trade Reform Analyzed,"
_Vierteljahresshefte zur Wirtschaftsvorschung_, West Berlin,
July-September 1971, (JPRS 54,691, Series No. 580, 1971).

Trade between Romania and the United States has been small because of
legal restrictions in the United States against trade with communist
countries. The trade volume doubled from about US$40 million in 1969 to
US$80 million in 1970 but declined to about US$65 million in 1971.
About 80 percent of the trade in 1969 and 1970 was accounted for by
Romanian imports; in 1971 the trade was more nearly balanced. Comparable
Romanian statistics are available only for 1969. They show a lower
volume of trade and a smaller trade deficit. No explanation of this
discrepancy is available.

Measures to exempt Romania from the restrictions directed against trade
with communist countries have been taken in the United States. In
November 1971 exports to Romania were made eligible for Export-Import
Bank