Senhor Mendonça to Mr. Blaine.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 3d of November, 1890, in which you inform me of the action of the Congress of the United States of America, at its late session, in the enactment of a new tariff law, in which provision was made for the admission into the ports of the United States, free of all duty, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles enumerated in your note; that said action was taken “with a view to secure reciprocal trade with countries producing those articles;” and that, as the Government of the United States of America is desirous of maintaining with the United States of Brazil such trade relations as shall be reciprocally equal, you express the hope that you may receive from me the assurance that the Government of the United States of Brazil will meet the Government of the United States of America in a spirit of sincere friendship.

I am pleased to be able to inform you, in reply, that the United States of Brazil are equally animated by a desire to strengthen and perpetuate the friendly relations which happily exist between them and the United States of America, and to establish the commercial intercourse of the two countries upon a basis of reciprocity and equality; and I heartily participate in the hope which you express, that it may prove to be the happy fortune of you, Mr. Secretary, and myself to be instrumental in establishing commercial relations between the two Republics on a permanent basis of mutual profit.

It is therefore a matter of great gratification to me to be able to communicate to you the fact that the Government of the United States of [Page 45] Brazil, in due reciprocity for and in consideration of the admission into the ports of the United States of America, free of all duty, whether national, State, or municipal, of the articles enumerated in your note of the 3d of November, 1890, has by legal enactment authorized the admission into all the established ports of entry of Brazil, on and after the 1st of April, 1891, free of all duty, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles or merchandise named in the following schedule, provided that the same be the product or manufacture of the United States of America:

schedule of articles to be admitted free into brazil.

Wheat;

Wheat flour;

Corn or maize, and the manufactures thereof, including corn meal and starch;

Rye, rye flour, buckwheat, buckwheat flour, and barley;

Potatoes, beans, and peas;

Hay and oats;

Pork, salted, including pickled pork and bacon, except hams;

Fish, salted, dried, or pickled;

Cotton-seed oil;

Coal, anthracite and bituminous;

Rosin, tar, pitch, and turpentine;

Agricultural tools, implements, and machinery;

Mining and mechanical tools, implements, and machinery, including stationary and portable engines, and all machinery for manufacturing and industrial purposes, except sewing machines;

Instruments and books for the arts and sciences;

Railway construction material and equipment.

And the Government of the United States of Brazil has, by legal enactment, further authorized the admission into all the established ports of entry of Brazil with a reduction of 25 per cent of the duty designated on the respective article in the tariff now in force or which may hereafter be adopted in the United States of Brazil, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles or merchandise named in the following schedule, provided that the same be the product or manufacture of the United States of America.

schedule of articles to be admitted into brazil with a reduction of duty of 25 per cent.

Lard and substitutes therefor;

Bacon hams; Butter and cheese;

Canned and preserved meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables;

Manufactures of cotton, including cotton clothing;

Manufactures of iron and steel, single or mixed, not included in the foregoing free schedule;

Leather and manufactures thereof, except boots and shoes;

Lumber, timber, and the manufactures of wood, including cooperage, furniture of all kinds, wagons, carts, and carriages;

Manufactures of rubber.

I inclose herewith tables compiled from the latest published statistics, showing the state of trade of Brazil in the articles enumerated in the foregoing schedules.

[Page 46]

The Government of the United States of Brazil has also provided that no increase shall be made in the export tax now in force, whether national, state, or municipal, on the articles enumerated in your note of the 3d of November, 1890, nor upon any article, the product of Brazil, now on the free list of the tariff of the United States of America so long as such article continues to be admitted free of duty; and it has further provided that if any reduction is made by Brazil in the export duty on any of its products, such reduction shall immediately apply to said products when exported to the United States of America.

The Government of Brazil reserves the right to adopt the necessary laws and regulations to protect its revenue and prevent fraud in the declarations and proof that the articles enumerated in the foregoing schedules are the product or manufacture of the United States of America; but the laws and regulations to be adopted shall place no undue restrictions upon the importer, nor impose any additional charges or tees therefor upon the articles imported.

I confidently hope that the foregoing action of my Government will satisfy the President of the United States of America that the United States of Brazil have met the liberal legislation of the Congress of the United States in a spirit of sincere friendship and reciprocity; and, in that happy event, I shall hold myself ready to agree with you upon a time when an official announcement of this legislation may be simultaneously issued by the executive departments of the two Governments, with the understanding that the commercial arrangement thus put in operation shall remain in force so long as neither Government shall definitely, at least three months in advance, inform the other of its intention and decision to consider it at an end at the expiration of the time indicated; provided, however, that the termination of the commercial arrangement shall begin to take effect either on the 1st day of January or on the 1st day of July.

I improve the opportunity to renew the assurance of my highest consideration.

Salvador de Mendonça.