811.512351 Double/199
The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the American Embassy in France 17
Referring to correspondence exchanged and to conversations which took place in Paris concerning the application of the Franco-American Convention of April 27, 1932,18 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has the honor to inform the Embassy of the United States that, much to its regret, it has been unable to obtain from Parliament, before the latter’s recess, a vote authorizing the President of the Republic to ratify the agreement in question. As a result of an overcrowding of their agenda, the Chambers did not have at their disposal sufficient time to study, discuss and vote in proper time the bill which had been referred to their secretariat by the Departments concerned.
The postponement will only be of short duration as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are in agreement to request Parliament to reach a decision as soon as the latter reconvenes.
Until that time, the French official administration, imbued with the spirit in which the Franco-American Convention was negotiated, [Page 174] shall abstain from any claims upon American firms now indebted to the tax collector’s office and upon whom demands for payment have been served only as a matter of strict routine.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs does not doubt that the American Government, appreciating the measures taken by the French Government, will continue to apply to French firms established in the United States the fiscal régime now prevailing until such time as the Convention of April 27, 1932, may go into effect.
- Transmitted to the Department by the Chargé in France in his despatch No. 1117, August 3; received August 10.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1932, vol. ii, p. 268.↩