611.626/22: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Commission to Negotiate Peace
2908. Your 3601, August 10, 1 a.m. Our present policy is to issue no licenses whatsoever for any dyestuffs produced in Germany, because, under present conditions, they would probably be imported through the old German agencies who are using every effort to regain Germany’s hold on the dyestuff industry in this country. Dyes of non-German origin are being imported in considerable quantities, and it is understood that, under the Treaty, dyestuffs may be secured by American consumers directly from the Reparation Commission and without the intervention of the old German agencies. It is the opinion of our Advisory Committee on Dyes that the disadvantages of importing through these agencies outweigh any present needs of American Consumers.
There is, however, a possibility that the need for vat colors will become so pressing in the very near future that it will be advisable to anticipate the functioning of the Reparation Commission and to license the importation, through other channels, of limited quantities of vat colors. If this should prove to be the case, would it be possible as far as your are informed, for American consumers to negotiate for and purchase vat colors directly from the German producers, either in unoccupied or occupied Germany, or will Germany prohibit all exports of dyestuffs pending the coming into force of the Treaty and the exercise of the option provided for in Annex VI?