611.60 p 31/5: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Latvia (Coleman)
42. Your 122, August 2, 1 p.m. In view of Latvia’s disinclination to exchange notes, you are authorized to sign a procès verbal, as follows:
“The Undersigned, the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Latvia and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, desiring to confirm and make of record the understanding which they have reached through recent conversations on behalf of their respective Governments with reference to the treatment which the United States shall accord to the commerce of Latvia, and which Latvia shall accord to the commerce of the United States, have signed this procès verbal.
It is understood:
- 1.
- That in respect to import and export duties, light, harbor, port and tonnage dues and all other charges affecting commerce, as well as in respect to transit, warehousing and other facilities, and the treatment of commercial travelers’ samples, the United States will accord to Latvia, and Latvia will accord to the United States, its territories and possessions, unconditional most-favored-nation treatment; and that in the matter of licensing or prohibitions of imports or exports, each country, so far as it at any time maintains such a system, will accord to the commerce of the other treatment as favorable, with respect to commodities, valuations and quantities, as may be accorded to the commerce of any other country.
- 2.
- That no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into or disposition in the United States, its territories or possessions, of any articles the produce or manufacture of Latvia than are or shall be payable on like articles the produce or manufacture of any foreign country.
- 3.
- That no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into or disposition in Latvia of any articles the produce or manufacture of the United States, its territories or possessions, than are or shall be payable on like articles the produce or manufacture of any foreign country.
- 4.
- That, similarly, no higher or other duties shall be imposed in the United States, its territories or possessions, or in Latvia, on the exportation of any article to the other or to any territory or possession of the other, than are payable on the exportation of like articles to any foreign country.
- 5.
- That every concession with respect to any duty, charge or regulation affecting commerce now accorded or that may hereafter be accorded by the United States or by Latvia, by law, proclamation, decree or commercial treaty or agreement, to any third country will become immediately applicable without request and without compensation to the commerce of Latvia and of the United States and its territories and possessions, respectively.
- 6.
- This understanding does not relate to:
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- a.
- The treatment which the United States accords or may hereafter accord to the commerce of Cuba or any of the territories or possessions of the United States or the Panama Canal Zone, or to the treatment which is or may hereafter be accorded to the commerce of the United States with any of its territories or possessions or to the commerce of its territories or possessions with one another.
- b.
- The treatment which Latvia has accorded or may accord to the commerce of Esthonia, Lithuania or Russia, so long as any advantages arising from such treatment are not accorded by Latvia to the commerce of states other than Esthonia, Lithuania or Russia.
- c.
- Prohibitions or restrictions of a sanitary character or designed to protect human, animal or plant life or regulations for the enforcement of police or revenue laws.
- 7.
- It is further understood that the present arrangement shall become operative on the day of signature and, unless sooner terminated by mutual agreement, shall continue in force until thirty days after notice of its termination shall have been given by either Government; but should either Government be prevented by future action of its legislature from carrying out the terms of this arrangement, the obligations thereof shall thereupon lapse.
Signed at Riga this . . . . . day of . . . . . , 1924.”
The procès verbal should be signed in duplicate. The extradition convention signed by the United States and Latvia on October 16, 1923,6 was signed only in English, and it may be that it would be satisfactory to Latvia to sign this commercial arrangement only in English.
The alternat should be observed in referring to the United States and Latvia throughout the instrument, namely, the United States should be mentioned first each time in the copy retained by you and Latvia should be mentioned first in the copy retained by the Latvian Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Telegraph developments.