611.3731/521: Telegram
The Ambassador in Cuba (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
Habana, February 17, 1934—3
p.m.
[Received February 18—4:33 p.m.]
[Received February 18—4:33 p.m.]
161. I had a preliminary discussion on the commercial treaty revision yesterday with the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Agriculture, and I am to meet them again Monday.
There are three questions I submit for decision to the Department:
- (1)
- Can we request seasonal reductions in Cuban import duties on potatoes, onions, watermelons, et cetera, without offering reciprocal concessions on Cuban fruits and vegetables? And can we offer such reciprocal concessions?
- (2)
- Are we to assume that article No. I of the present treaty,21 providing for the free entry into the United States of products on the free list at the time of the promulgation of the treaty, will continue in effect? (The advantages to Cuba of the proposed treaty revision would be nullified to a large extent if the above article were eliminated. Industries in Cuba which have been developed and expanded under the terms of this article include extractive and manufacturing industries chief among which is the mining industry in which American capital estimated at $20,000,000 is invested.)
- (3)
- Are we to discuss with the Cuban delegation concessions to be granted Cuban products other than sugar entering the United States?
Caffery
- Signed December 11, 1902, Foreign Relations, 1903, p. 375.↩