On May 30 Baron Beyens, a young official at the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, called on me at the direction of Monsieur Hymans and left
with me the memorandum, copies of which I am enclosing
[Page 73]
for the Department’s
information. I consider this document of such importance to the
Department that I am forwarding copies of it without translation in
order that it may go off in the pouch which leaves today.
Baron Beyens informed me that the Ministry felt there was a general
need for increased trade between the two countries. I emphasized the
harm to American trade and interests in Belgium which necessarily
follows the application of import quotas affecting American imports
here. I added that I felt there could be little improvement in trade
relations between the two countries until Belgium showed a
willingness to abolish quota restrictions as protectionist measures
against the importation of American goods. Baron Beyens replied with
the usual argument that quotas were necessary for the protection of
the home market at the present time.
I respectfully suggest to the Department that it study the contents
of the enclosed note, along with my despatches:6
In this connection, Mr. Sussdorff, Counselor,
undoubtedly discussed the situation with the Department earlier this
month, and this despatch will supplement his discussions and bring
the matter up to date. I am prepared to add any information which
the Department may desire when I am in Washington the middle of
June. A study of the information obtained from these discussions and
from the material referred to above will furnish the Department with
a complete picture of the trade situation between the two
countries.
I believe the Belgians are sincerely interested in improving these
relations and that every encouragement should be offered them to
show that sympathetic consideration will be given any concrete offer
which will remove restrictions and improve trade relations. I
respectfully urge the Department to keep the Embassy informed of the
details of any negotiations which may ensue. The situation is daily
becoming more complicated by the application of new restrictions. In
this connection I refer to my despatch No. 185 of May 17, 1934.7 The Embassy is in
close touch with American interests here and therefore it is in a
position to be of value to the Department in furnishing up to date
information relating to restrictions on American trade.
The Belgian Ministry for
Foreign Affairs to the American
Embassy
The Belgian Government fully shares the ideas contained in the
message by which President Roosevelt asked of the Congress of
the United States the powers necessary for negotiating with
foreign countries treaties of commerce covering reciprocal
concessions and reciprocal facilities intended to develop
commercial interchanges. The Belgian Government is pleased with
this step, for it too is convinced that the return to prosperity
depends on a lowering of customs barriers and an increase in
international trade. Moreover: the message of the President of
the United States was not a surprise to it, the statements made
on several occasions by the Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell
Hull, particularly at the London Monetary and Economic
Conference,8a
had shown it that the United States Government was aware of the
gravity of the situation and the remedies which it was advisable
to apply to it.
The Belgian Government has always been an advocate of the
simultaneous lowering of customs barriers; it has made great
efforts along this line during these last few years, efforts
which have not, unfortunately, been crowned with success. Let it
suffice to recall the part [taken by Belgium at] the Geneva
Commercial Convention of 1930,9 the conclusion, in 1932, of the Convention
of Ouchy with the Netherlands and Luxemburg,10 intended to lower
customs barriers by successive steps and open to all nations,
and lastly the declarations made by Belgium’s representatives at
the London Conference, declarations which agreed fully with
those of the leader of the American delegation, Mr. Cordell
Hull.
This means that the Government of Belgium is entirely disposed to
enter into pourparlers with that of the
United States of America, with a view to the conclusion of a new
treaty of commerce, covering reciprocal concessions.
The Belgian Government wishes to call attention to the fact that
[it] is at present, taking the number of its population into
account, one of the best customers of the United States. Belgium
has pursued up to the present time a liberal economic policy
toward the United States; the duties of her customs tariff are,
with a few exceptions, extremely
[Page 75]
moderate; the majority of the raw materials
and foodstuffs for which the United States is now seeking
markets enter our country free of duty.
On the contrary, the American customs tariff is very high; the
majority of Belgian products are heavily taxed. The latest
revision of the tariff, in 1930, ended in excluding from the
American market some products which formerly found a very
important market there (cement, brick). That is not all: aside
from the height of the customs duties, Belgian exports suffer
from the strictness and the complication of the administrative
provisions of the tariff, such as those relative to the marking
of articles, those concerning suspicion of “dumping,” the
quarantine applied to our horticultural products, etc.
The Belgian Government therefore believes that the present system
of reciprocal exchanges is not equitable, and that it should be
improved; it is ready to cooperate with the American Government
in the measures adapted for their development.
An examination of the commercial balance of the two countries
emphasizes, moreover, the lack of balance which now exists in
trade between the Belgian-Luxemburgian Economic Union and the
United States. The following table, taken from the American
customs statistics, shows that this lack of balance has been
perceptibly accentuated during the last few years.
| Years |
Exports of the Union to the United
States. |
Imports from America into the
Economic Union. |
|
(Dollars) |
(Dollars) |
| 1929 |
74,048,000 |
114,855,000 |
| 1930 |
51,536,000 |
86,000,000 |
| 1931 |
34,241,000 |
59,441,000 |
| 1932 |
21,927,000 |
40,278,000 |
The figures for 1933 are not yet known, but an examination of the
Belgian commercial statistics shows that the lack of balance
existing in 1932 has continued.
A brief glance at the above table shows that the value of the
exchange of goods has been reduced on both sides, but that the
decrease has been proportionately much greater, in the exports
from the Economic Union to the United States.
It is this situation that the Belgian Government would like to
change, not by rectifying unilaterally the commercial balance to
the advantage of Belgium, but by developing simultaneously the
exchanges on both sides for the greater advantage of both
parties.
The Belgian Government made an investigation among the exporters
of the country, with a view to ascertaining what claims it
should submit to the United States Government, when the
negotiations contemplated
[Page 76]
in President Roosevelt’s message are undertaken. This
investigation is completed and the Belgian Government is now in
position to formulate such claims. We shall give a brief outline
thereof.
From a tariff point of view, the Government of the King will ask
for concessions on certain products for which Belgium is, or has
been, the principal source of supply on the United States
market, or which do not come into competition with American
industry. For example, it will ask for reductions in import
duties on cement (which can be sold only on the coasts and which
has been excluded from the American market by the duty of 6
cents a pound, imposed in 1930); on articles of crystal and de
luxe hollow glass ware; on certain products of the textile
industry (tissues of dyed and colored cotton, upholstering
tissues, cotton carpets, certain linen tissues: padding and
oysters; heavy jute paddings; on certain metallurgical products
(galvanized sheet iron and wire netting); lastly on certain
Belgian specialties; art laces, Belgian chicory, hot-house
grapes.
Moreover, the Belgian Government would ask for the consolidation
of certain import duties (droits
d’entrée) and customs exemption enjoyed by certain
products, such as: fertilizer, creosote oil, et cetera.’
Lastly, with respect to the administrative provisions of the
American customs tariff, Belgium would ask for a more liberal
application of this legislation, which causes, in numerous
cases, considerable prejudice to her export trade. For example,
the Belgian Government would request that the luxury tax,
collected from the manufacturer (matches, for instance), be not
counted in the evaluation of merchandise for the purpose of
customs taxation. It would also like to obtain the removal or at
least a mitigation of the quarantine imposed on our
horticultural products.
The Belgian Government is ready to enter into negotiations with
the United States. Its sincere desire is to promote trade, to
the fullest possible extent between the two countries for their
mutual advantage.
