711.942/393: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
410. Department’s telegram No. 405, December 20, 7 p.m., last paragraph.
- 1.
- I desire that you call upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs and make
an oral statement to him substantially as follows, unless you perceive
objection, in which circumstance I should of course welcome a statement
of your views and an indication of your reasoning:
The United States Government sincerely appreciates the efforts made by the Japanese Government to remedy the conditions which adversely affect Japanese-American relations and the indication of the intent of the Japanese Government to persist in those efforts.
With reference to the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding the question of entering into negotiations for the conclusion of a new treaty, the United States Government has prepared a statement of its position on this question for the consideration and information of the Japanese Government. (You should then hand [Page 195] to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as you suggest, the statement transmitted by the Department in telegram No. 402, December 18.)
With reference to the question of concluding a modus vivendi, the United States Government suggests that for the time being this question remain open.
The United States Government believes that it would be appropriate at this time for the discussions to be continued which have been going on between the American Ambassador in Japan and the Japanese Foreign Minister with reference to considerations bearing on the question of concluding a new treaty or agreement for the regulation of commerce between Japan and the United States.
- 2.
- Please impart to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the course of the
same conversation, but as a separate statement, the following
information:
In the near future the United States Treasury Department is issuing a communication to customs collectors and others concerned stating that upon the expiration of the treaty the 10 percent ad valorem discriminatory duties provided for in the Tariff Act of 19136 are not to be collected on goods which enter the United States in Japanese ships unless and until such time as further instructions shall be issued. The Department of Commerce has reached a decision similar in effect in regard to discriminating tonnage duties on ships.
- Approved October 3, 1913; 38 Stat. 114.↩