660c.116/40
The Minister in Poland (Stetson) to
the Secretary of State
[Extract]
Warsaw, July 25,
1927.
[Received August 10.]
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.]
[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.