660c.116/40

The Minister in Poland (Stetson) to the Secretary of State

[Extract]
No. 1173

Sir: Adverting to the Legation’s Despatch No. 1125, of June 27, 1927, relative to representations made in a note to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the subject of contingents granted by the Polish Government for the importation of American motor cars into Poland, I now have the honor to inform the Department that the answer to the above-mentioned note, copy of which was transmitted the Department with the despatch above referred to, has just been received by the Legation.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I have [etc.]

John B. Stetson, Jr.
[Enclosure—Translation]

The Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs (Zaleski) to the American Minister (Stetson)

Mr. Minister: In your note No. 795 [755] of June 24th, last, you were good enough to bring to the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the question of the procedure adopted by the Polish authorities with regard to the distribution of contingents established for certain articles the importation into Poland of which is forbidden in principle. Furthermore, and in particular, you have called the attention of the Ministry to the question of the contingents reserved for motor cars of American origin.

In acknowledging receipt of this note, I have the honor to enclose herewith, for your information, an explanatory memorandum relative to the procedure applied by Poland with regard to this matter. At the same time, I shall call your attention to the fact that the general procedure with regard to the regulating of foreign commerce was published in the Monitor Polski No. 301, of the year 1925.

This measure has always been considered as temporary, the Polish Government remaining sincerely desirous of orienting in a more and more liberal way its economic policy. The Polish Government is not unmindful of the serious inconveniences which result for its commercial relations with foreign countries, from the policy regulating its [Page 612] trade, the institution of which, however, was dictated by superior interests of national economy to which, I should say, exporters in search of markets in Poland can not be indifferent.

Nevertheless, as regards the United States, the regime of regulation does not seem to have been prejudicial to the development of American exports to Poland. The United States occupies the second place among importing countries in Poland. It is to be noted that American imports into Poland constituted, in 1924, 12.4 per cent of the total imports, in 1925, 13.8 per cent, and in 1926, 18 per cent. The Polish-American balance of trade has always been very favorable to the United States and during the last years has been uniformly unfavorable to Poland. This has not been the case with a single other country, which proves that the treatment accorded by the Polish authorities to products originating in the United States has been more favorable than that to imports from other countries allied to Poland by commercial agreements.

With regard to special contingents for American automobiles mentioned in your note under acknowledgment, I have to advise you that the competent authorities are at present studying this question with a view to finding out whether it would be possible to give to the articles mentioned a special contingent. However, I must point out in this connection that in view of the present Polish balance of trade this question presents the most serious difficulties.

In conclusion, I have the honor to assure you that the American Government may count on receiving in Poland, within the limits of the commercial arrangement in force, treatment identical to that accorded to other countries with regard to the temporary regulations governing foreign commerce, as well as with regard to the alterations, lightening these regulations, which will be made therein. The Polish Government is far too anxious for a more intense development of the economic relations between Poland and the United States to let the least doubt exist in this regard.

Accept [etc.]

For the Minister and by his authorization:
A. Tarnowski

Director of the Political and Economic Department
[Subenclosure—Memorandum—Translation]

In establishing the sum totals of the contingents for articles the importation of which is prohibited in Poland, the competent Polish Authorities have adopted as a basis of their policy the natural contingents which were the average of globular importations effected during recent years.

The contingents in question are established every three months for every quarter which follows. Their sum total is communicated to [Page 613] the Central Import Commission, an organization composed of the representatives of Polish commercial institutions, which is charged with the duty of distributing these contingents among Polish importers. Nevertheless, the Commission in question is only authorized to distribute three-fourths of the contingents established for each article, one-fourth remaining as a reserve to enable the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to be in a position to satisfy, in case of necessity, the just reclamations of Polish importers or of foreign exporters whose interests might perhaps have been injured through the distribution of contingents by the Central Import Commission.

With regard to the distribution of three-fourths of the contingents, this is effected as the requests of Polish importers come in, without taking into consideration the origin of the merchandize to be imported.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that import licenses are only issued for merchandize coming from a country which has concluded a treaty of commerce with Poland.