Foreign Relations of the United States, The Soviet Union, 1933–1939

611.613 Coal/42: Telegram

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union ( Davies ) to the Secretary of State

Moscow , June 28, 1937—7 p.m.
[Received June 28—3:25 p.m.]

137. Your 70, June 23, 6 p.m.

1. Foreign Office advised this afternoon that purchases during the treaty year up to June 15th are estimated at $36,000,000. They hoped within next few days to obtain the precise figures and also the estimated figures from June 15th to July 13th.

2. It also stated that it had instructed Troyanovski to inform the Department that its answer to the suggestions made to him would be sent through the American Embassy in Moscow.

3. It added that before stating whether the suggestions made to Troyanovski would be satisfactory to the Soviet Government it needed certain clarifications with respect to them. In particular it desired answers to the following questions:

(a) Does the American Government propose merely to extend the present agreement accompanying the exchange of notes, effecting the extension with an interpretative letter worded similarly to article I of the Netherlands agreement or does it contemplate concluding an entirely new executive agreement?

(b) In case the American Government is proposing to include the clauses providing for most-favored-nation treatment of imports in the exchange of principal notes, does it desire the reservations with respect to coal to be contained in the principal notes or in a supplementary letter?

4. (a) Embassy has the impression that the Foreign Office hopes that the State Department is proposing an extension of the present agreement with a new interpretation thereof for the reason that the Soviet Government considers it would have in such case a better basis for presenting a claim for the excise duties paid during the last 2 years.

(b) Embassy considers that in case the Department desires to insert most-favored-nation treatment provisions in the exchange of notes Foreign Office would prefer that the coal reservations be included in a supplementary letter rather than in the principal notes.

5. Foreign Office intimates that, if it could come to a satisfactory agreement with the American Government regarding the form of the agreement, there would be no difficulty about the written promise not to export coal to the United States during the treaty year in excess of 400,000 tons.

6. In view of the late date and in order to expedite the negotiations, suggest that the Department furnish us immediately, telegraphic, full text of agreement acceptable to it.

Davies