611.0031/693
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The Japanese Ambassador called, and, incidental to our greetings, I made a brief reference to and review of the universal problem of liberalizing commercial policy and restoring suitable international economic relations; and I closed with the observation that, assuming liberal commercial policy, fair trade methods and practices and friendly trade relations were adopted, there was far more than enough room on the planet for all enterprising countries desiring to engage in mutually profitable trade with each other to do so to the fullest extent of their capacity. I stated that I had been preaching this general doctrine for some years and that I proposed, while different things were happening here and there in the world, to pursue an even course more leisurely than hasty, with the idea that my country would contribute its full share towards world economic rehabilitation and its own permanent prosperity.
The Ambassador commented briefly but in general terms approvingly of my statement.
I then added that of course my government would be obliged to proceed very gradually in entering into negotiations for bilateral reciprocity agreements, for the reason that powerful opposition to any reduction of trade barriers had and still existed in this country, and that if we should proceed too rapidly with negotiations and with reductions of trade barriers we probably would be thrown out of power at Washington; that, furthermore, in order to preserve the unconditional form of the favored nation policy as nearly as possible, we would probably be obliged to select a very limited number of commodities as a basis for the first commercial agreement with the idea that as favorable sentiment in the nation increased we might readjust trade obstructions downward a little further, or in some other way find it consistent to add more commodities in the form of a supplemental bilateral trade agreement; that these supplemental arrangements might take place six months or twelve months or at other later stages; and that we had not undertaken to determine the order in which we would take up negotiations with different countries but we would do the best we could as to this if and when the Congress enacted the legislation giving the Executive authority to negotiate reciprocity treaties.
The Ambassador then said that he had been away from Japan for some three years and a half and he hoped to leave Washington soon after the forepart of June, sailing for his country on the 30th from Seattle.