Office of the Historian

611.623 Coal/16

The Secretary of State to the German Ambassador (Von Prittwitz)

[Washington,] January 17, 1933.

Excellency: I have the honor to refer to previous correspondence with you in regard to certain provisions of the Revenue Act of 1932, affecting the importation of coal into the United States.

I now have to inform you that the Decision of the Treasury Department53 permitting duty free entry of German coal has, by reason of a ruling of the Attorney General, been reversed. Two copies each of the Attorney General’s letter of December 27, 1932, to the President,54 and of a Decision dated January 9, 1933,55 by the Secretary of the Treasury, are enclosed herewith for your information.

You will note that the Attorney General has set aside the Decision of the Treasury Department in order that the question of the right of German coal to exemption from the tax imposed by the Revenue Act may be decided by the appropriate court on appeal thereto by the parties interested.

Accept [etc.]

H. L. Stimson
  1. Decision No. 45991–6, November 14, 1932; for text, see Treasury Decisions, vol. 62, p. 521.↩
  2. 37 Op. Atty. Gen. 34.↩
  3. No. 46102; Treasury Decisions, vol. 63, pp. 67–68.↩