Amtorg Trading Corporation

Amtorg Trading Corporation, also known as Amtorg (short for Amerikanskaia Torgovlia, Russian: ), was the first trade representation of the Soviet Union in the United States, established in New York in 1924 by merging Armand Hammer's Allied American Corporation (Alamerico) with Products Exchange Corporation (Prodexco) and Arcos-America Inc. (the U.S. branch of All Russian Co-operative Society, ARCOS, in Great Britain).

Formally a semi-private joint-stock company and American corporation, Amtorg occupied a unique position in the market as the single purchaser for a communist state. Even though it did not officially represent the Soviet government, it was controlled by the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade and, prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USA and the USSR in 1933, served as a de facto trade delegation and a quasi-embassy.

Amtorg handled almost all exports from the USSR, comprising mostly lumber, furs, flax, bristles, and caviar, and all imports of raw materials and machinery for Soviet industry and agriculture. It also provided American companies with information about trade opportunities in the USSR and supplied Soviet industries with technical news and information about American companies. The first headquarters were first located in Manhattan, at 165 Broadway. After 1929, it was located at 261 Fifth Avenue, with several branch offices, including, at different times, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

From 1927 to 1930, under the direction of Saul Bron and , Amtorg expanded into a major commercial enterprise, with more than 100 employees. During this formative period, Amtorg was very careful to clear any legal hurdles through the leading New York law firm of Thomas D. Thacher. The main financial consultant and banker for Amtorg at that time was Chase National Bank.

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