The Commercial Attaché informs me that Señor Fiore is a prominent member
of the Argentine business community, a graduate of Cornell University,
and friendly to the United States.
[Enclosure]
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Argentina
(Weddell) of a
Conversation With Señor Luis Fiore Regarding Trade
Relations
I received this morning a call from Señor Luis Fiore, a member of the
Governmental Commission which has under study the proposed tariff to
be concluded between the Argentine Republic and Great Britain. Señor
Fiore is also a member of the Sub Committee of the Commission above
referred to which will be called on to advise the Argentine
Government relative to any commercial understanding which may be
arrived at with the United States. Señor Fiore said that he had been
told that it would doubtless be necessary for him to proceed very
shortly to the United States with a view to advising with Ambassador
Espil concerning reciprocal trade relations between the two
countries; that he himself felt that this voyage at the present time
would be premature. In reply to my question why he thought so, he
said “Because of the repercussion” on any arrangement to be studied
between the United States and Argentina arising out of the
anticipated ratification of the Anglo-Argentine treaty.
He further seemed to feel that his trip to the United States might be
fruitless and asked me what I thought of the possibility of our two
countries arriving at an understanding. I told him I felt that the
matter of the relations between the United States and the Argentine
was something that was very close to the mind of the President but
that since the treaty making power was shared by him with the
Senate, it was impossible for anyone to predict the final
outcome.
I then referred to the matter of exchange, saying that various
Argentines had spoken to me concerning the amount of exchange
available to release American credits in this country, their
attitude being that the amount of exchange available to American
sellers should be limited to approximately the amount of American
purchases in this country. I said I felt this was a narrow
viewpoint, that exchange was in a sense a triangular matter. He
promptly supplied the illustration to buttress my statement—the
trade balances between Holland, Argentina and the United States.
He then referred to the question of shipments of Argentine meat and
other products, declaring that he quite understood that the United
States produced many things which were directly in competition with
Argentine products, but said that although recognizing the existence
of foot-and-mouth disease in the northern sections of the Republic,
he thought the discrimination against Patagonian mutton was
unreasonable and unjustified.
Señor Fiore then asked whether the American tariff on certain
Argentine products might not be reduced. I told him that the final
[Page 653]
answer to that could
only be given by the treaty making power, but that perhaps the
decline in the value of the American dollar on European exchanges
was in itself in practice a tariff reduction.
He returned again to the matter of mutton sales and seemed to
intimate that were any arrangement made for the admission of a
limited amount of this product, in return an amount of exchange
equivalent to, say, “fifty or sixty per cent.” of American sales
over purchases in Argentina might be ear-marked for the United
States.
He then said that our conversation was, of course, informal and
unofficial, in which I concurred, pointing out that I had not yet
entered on my duties as chief of this mission. He then said would I
tell him frankly what I thought of the possibility of some form of
reciprocal trade agreement. I told him I was no prophet but that I
felt and believed that the influence and prestige of the
Administration was at present very great, and that on the assumption
that this would continue, the outlook for the conclusion of a
mutually satisfactory agreement was good.
I asked Señor Fiore what was the situation with regard to the
Anglo-British arrangement. He replied that the Argentine Government
had made every concession it could, that the matter was now before
London, whence an answer was expected tomorrow morning, and that if
it was not received tomorrow, he believed this silence would be an
indication that the treaty had failed.
A[lexander] W. W[eddell]
Buenos Aires,
September 8,
1933.
