856D.6176/164a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Bingham)
86. The Department is informed that a rubber restriction agreement will be signed by the producers’ committees March 7th. You are instructed to inform the British authorities that this Government understands that such agreement is in no sense binding upon the governments concerned. This Government will maintain its position with respect to proper protection of its legitimate interests in connection with the agreement and looks confidently for the necessary cooperation from the British Government.
For your information the Department feels that certain American manufacturer-growers have a legitimate claim to special consideration in connection with the production of special type rubbers which they produce and to the regular reception of which in chemically stable form their manufacturing plants are geared. The Department is informed by the American manufacturer-growers concerned that these special types are not in over-supply, and are not sold on public markets, [Page 633] but only by private contract or order. In view of this situation, you are instructed to inform the appropriate authorities that the manufacturer-growers themselves will press for an exemption from restriction of the special types where produced on the plantations of manufacturer-growers, such exemption to be in connection with a voluntary agreement between the producers’ committees and such manufacturer-growers establishing a mutually satisfactory basis for such exemption. The American manufacturer-growers producing such special types are transmitting to their representatives in The Hague and in London specific terms which they are proposing as such a basis for exemption.