611.5631/223: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in the Netherlands (Emmet)

28. Your 45, June 21 and 46, June 22. I am inclined to feel that the Netherland Government is over-emphasizing the difficulties and questions which must necessarily be ironed out during the forthcoming trade agreement negotiations. We recognize that the present Netherland commercial policy differs substantially from our own. While we feel that a policy of quantitative restriction such as that adopted by the Netherland Government is not in the best interest of world commerce in general, we do not feel that we can insist that any government immediately overturn its whole commercial policy in order that it may consummate a trade agreement with this country. We are not asking the Dutch to abandon their quota system as a whole, but it does not seem unreasonable to seek suppression of quotas which have apparently been designed essentially for the purpose of curtailing American trade, and it is for this reason that our desiderata includes requests for quota suppression. If the Dutch were to feel that suppression of such quotas would not be in the best interest of Netherland economy, we will be prepared to consider offers of quota liberalization since we are essentially interested in the lowering of trade barriers and the general expansion of commerce.

The scope of the two desiderata is a matter of adjustment during negotiations, and since our interest lies in arriving at a balanced agreement, the two lists can, it is felt, be readily brought into comparable adjustment.

Hull