611.6131/506a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the Soviet Union (Kirk)
85. You are requested to avail yourself of the first convenient occasion to ascertain in a completely informal and preliminary manner the attitude of responsible Soviet officials toward the negotiation of a renewal of the present commercial agreement with the United States, as provided for in paragraph 3 of the agreement, with an appropriate upward adjustment of the guaranteed total purchases by the Soviet Union in order (a) to take into account the increased benefits to Soviet trade of concessions granted by the United States in agreements recently concluded and of concessions which may be granted in agreements under actual negotiation and (b) to bring the figure more nearly in accord with the current level of Soviet purchases in this country. Information available to the Department at this time indicates that Soviet orders placed in this country during the present agreement year will probably total at least $50,000,000 or thereabouts and possibly considerably more.