611.5131/1273
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The French Ambassador called upon my invitation. I laid before him for transmission to his Government in his own way the matter of the threatened order of the French Government imposing additional restrictions or burdens on the importation of American motion picture films.22 I stated that, without reference to the merits of the threatened action, the raising of tariff rates on or the imposition of similar burdens or impediments to the importation of such films in the very midst of our trade agreement conversations, involving this particular commodity as one of the chief American exports to France, would, if not proving fatal, seriously threaten the further progress of our trade agreement negotiations.
The Ambassador raised the point that there was no discrimination in this proposed action, to which I replied that, since the chief imports of films by the French came from the United States, his contention that there was no discrimination was similar to someone’s contention that the recent proclamation of the President, prohibiting American citizens from traveling on Ethiopian steamers and on Italian steamers except at their own risk,23 was in no sort of sense a discrimination. The Ambassador then agreed, and he assured me that he would send a suitable telegram to his Government today.
I stated to him that we had refused to enter upon negotiations with Switzerland24 and one or two other countries when we had discovered that they were suddenly raising tariff rates or placing restrictions presumably for trading purposes on the eve of such contemplated negotiations, and I added that it made not the slightest difference whether the French Government was taking this similar step for trading purposes or some entirely different purpose,—the American public would be able to charge that it was for trading purposes and the State Department would be helpless to contradict this; hence the very great importance of these views being laid before the French Government before they took action.