681.003/187
The Chargé in Belgium (Sussdorff) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 5.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instructions Nos. 190 of August 9, 193479 and 173 of February 12, 1935,80 and to the Embassy’s despatches No. 246 of September 4, 1934,81 and No. 393 of February 28, 1935,82 regarding a proposed modification of the customs regime now in effect in the French Protectorate of Morocco.
In this connection, I have the honor to report that, in reply to an inquiry, Mr. Le Tellier, Chief of the Political Section of the Belgian Foreign Office informed me today that the French Government has not made any representations to the Belgian Government for a long time on the subject of the proposed modifications. Mr. Le Tellier believes that such strong opposition developed on various sides to the French proposals that the French Government feels that it would be useless to push the matter at the present time. Mr. Le Tellier repeated that the Belgian Government is strenuously opposed to the modifications proposed by the French Government, as are a number of other countries. He said that the opposition of the foreign countries to the French proposal was strengthened by the fact that opposition also developed in Morocco on the part of a number of important [Page 988] commercial interests. He believes that the sum total of the opposition will be that the French Government will allow the matter to rest for some time to come.
Respectfully yours,
- See instruction No. 505, August 3, 1934, to the Ambassador in Great Britain, Foreign Relations, 1934, vol. ii, p. 844.↩
- Transmitting memorandum of January 24, 1935, by the Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs, p. 961.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1934, vol. ii, p. 849.↩
- Not printed; it reported “the Belgian Government still opposed in principle to the proposed changes, which would involve the establishment of a number of quotas in Morocco.” (681.003/163)↩