Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1934, General, the British Commonwealth, Volume I

856D.6176/114: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Minister in the Netherlands ( Swenson )

Washington , December 8, 1933—4 p.m.

34. Your despatches 788 of October 10th³ and 832 of November 18th regarding the international plan under discussion for the restriction of rubber output.

Kindly call upon the proper Dutch authorities and inform them that the American Government has a very great interest in any plan that may be worked out since the United States is by far the greatest consumer of rubber. Please ask for any further information that may be available as to the plans. This matter has not yet been discussed with the President and the American Government is not ready to formulate its attitude towards any agreement which may be reached. However, it is inevitable that that attitude will be much influenced by the terms of any agreement, particularly in respect to the degree of restriction imposed, the provisions for increasing production in the event of price change and all possible safeguards that there will be available adequate supplies at the lowest prices compatible with the satisfactory stabilization of the industry. These reflections you may tentatively, within your discretion, bring home to the authorities while avoiding the impression in any way that the American Government is willing to give its formal assent to any agreement. You may find it useful to refer to the resolution passed by the Economic and Monetary Conference⁴ embodying the statement of sound principles for international commodity agreements, particularly Section 3 (d) which emphasizes that such agreements “should as far as possible be worked out with the willing cooperation of the consuming interests in the importing countries.”⁵

Repeat to London, mutatis mutandis, as No. 308.

Phillips

3. Not printed.
4. For correspondence concerning this Conference, see Foreign Relations, 1933, vol. i, pp. 452 ff.
5. League of Nations, Monetary and Economic Conference, Reports Approved by the Conference on July 27, 1933, and Resolutions Adopted by the Bureau and the Executive Committee (II. Economic and Financial, 1933. II. Spec. 4), p. 19.