War Trade Board Files

Notice Issued by the War Trade Board

W.T.B.R. 679

RESUMPTION OF TRADE WITH GERMAN AUSTRIA

Acting concurrently with the competent authorities of the other Associated Governments, the War Trade Board announce that all [Page 185] persons in the United States are authorized, on and after April 2, 1919, subject to the rules and regulations of the War Trade Board, to trade and communicate freely with persons residing in German Austria.

In accordance with this authorization, applications will now be considered for licenses to export or import all commodities to consignees or from consignors in German Austria, except that, for military reasons, the importation into German Austria of the following commodities will be restricted, and export licenses for the same will be granted only in exceptional cases:

  • Aircraft of all kinds, including aeroplanes, airships, balloons and their component parts, together with accessories and articles suitable for use in connection with aircraft.
  • Apparatus which can be used for the storage or projection of compressed or liquefied gases, flame acids, or other destructive agents capable of use in warlike operations and their component parts.
  • Armor plates.
  • Armored motor cars.
  • Arms of all kinds, including arms for sporting purposes and their component parts.
  • Barbed wire and implements for fixing and cutting same.
  • Camp equipment.
  • Camp equipment, articles of, and their component parts.
  • Clothing and equipment of a distinctively military character.
  • Electrical appliances adapted for use in the war and their component parts.
  • Explosives, especially prepared for use in war.
  • Field glasses.
  • Gases for war purposes.
  • Guns and machine guns.
  • Gun mountings, limbers, and military wagons of all descriptions.
  • Harness or horse equipment of a military character.
  • Implements and apparatus designed exclusively for the manufacture of munitions of war, or for the manufacture or repair of arms or of war material, for use on land or sea.
  • Mines, submarines, and their component parts.
  • Projectiles, charges, cartridges, and grenades of all kinds and their component parts.
  • Range finders and their component parts.
  • Searchlights and their component parts.
  • Submarine sound signaling apparatus and materials for wireless telegraphs.
  • Torpedoes.
  • Warships, including boats and their component parts of such a nature that they can only be used on a vessel of war.

It is to be understood that the exportation of the following articles, viz, barbed wire and implements for fixing and cutting the same, [Page 186] articles of camp equipment and their component parts, clothing and equipment of a distinctly military character, electrical appliances for use in war and their component parts, military wagons of all descriptions, and harness or horse equipment of a military character, is only forbidden on account of the military use to which such articles can be put. If exporters have information showing that the articles are destined for civil purposes, the same should be submitted with the applications for export licenses.

American exporters are advised that merchandise is permitted to be exported to German Austria only upon the understanding that it is intended to supply the internal domestic needs of that country; and that, without the consent of the Inter-Allied Trade Committee at Vienna, the reexportation of such merchandise from German Austria to countries commercial relations with which are not authorized is forbidden, and further, that such reexportation constitutes a violation of the Trading with the Enemy Act.

For the exportation of commodities to German Austria, applications should be filed on Form X-A. No Supplemental Information Sheet will be required, unless the commodity is a manufacture of gold, in which case Supplemental Information Sheet X-29 should be attached.

For importations into the United States from German Austria, individual import licenses will be required, in accordance with the regulations applicable to importations from the neutral countries of Europe.

The War Trade Board have received no official advices concerning the regulations governing importations into German Austria, and prospective exporters should therefore communicate with their customers abroad before making definite commitments, so that the importers may comply with any import regulations that may be in effect.

The following are the suggested routes for postal and cable communications and remittances and merchandise shipments:

Postal communications should be addressed via France or Italy or Switzerland, and sent either on French or Italian licensed liners carrying mail.

Cablegrams and cable remittances should be made via French cable lines.

Merchandise should be shipped on vessels proceeding directly to Adriatic ports, preferably Trieste.

Vance C. McCormick

Chairman