Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1933, General, Volume I

550.S1 Economic Commission/26: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Chairman of the American Delegation (Hull)

Washington, July 7, 1933—9 p.m.

117. Your 105, July 6, 9 p.m. The informal conference of producers, processors and others responsible for supplying sugar to the American consumer met in Washington on June 27.⁴⁹ So far it has been agreed that: (1) the question of raising or lowering the present United States tariff is not a subject for discussion by the conference; (2) that the question of the preferential granted by the United States Government to Cuba is to be left for decision to other governmental agencies; and (3) that the program of the conference does not include imposing licenses, permits or quotas upon the world full-duty sugar.

A first draft of a general agreement⁵⁰ has been drawn up providing for the following steps: (1) after making a conservative estimate of continental United States market requirements, to prorate these requirements among producing areas for the first year with a provision for over-supply to care for an expanding market or the inability of any area to produce its quota; (2) to provide for an adjustment in quotas for each succeeding year; (3) to provide for the limitation of off-shore direct consumption sugars; (4) to provide machinery for preventing a price collapse; and (5) in general to guard against any further expansion in production at present by the areas represented at the conference.

The conference has reached substantial agreement on the method of control and is now discussing the more difficult problem of proration of quotas.

Phillips

49. The General Conference of the Sugar Industry, held at Washington, June 27–July 18, 1933, was attended by representatives of producers and processors of cane and beet sugar interests of continental United States, the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Cuba (811.6135/13, 25b). For a concise account of the work done by the Conference, of the tentative draft of proposed marketing agreement, and of its disapproval by the Secretary of Agriculture, see U. S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Agricultural Adjustment; a report of administration of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, May 1938 to February 1934 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1934), pp. 189–192.
50. Revised on July 18, 1933, by a Committee of the General Conference of the Sugar Industry; Sugar Stabilization; Tentative Draft of Proposed Marketing Agreement (811.6135/23b).