660C.116/165
The Ambassador in Poland (Cudahy) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 20.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that pursuant to the Department’s telegram No. 10, February 27, 1935, I called today on Colonel Józef Beck, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and explained to him that I had been instructed by my Government to ascertain the views of the Polish Government toward pursuing a broad commercial policy such as has been inaugurated by the Government of the United States. I directed attention to my call on November 18, 1933 (despatch No. 86, November 18, 19334) when I presented the point of view of the American Government with regard to the difficulties encountered in Poland by foreign trade. I stressed the fact that this visit and subsequent conversations had failed to achieve any conclusive results with regard to the viewpoint of the American Government that a conflict was presented by the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Eights, particularly the most-favored-nation clause thereof and the Polish application of the contingent or quota treatment of American imports and the Polish system of compensation exports. I asked for an early reply concerning the treatment which American trade might expect in Poland in the future; also an explanation of the nature, purpose and decision of special fees levied or charged on American imports subjected to contingents or quotas and the system of compensation exports.
The Minister replied that the subject being a complicated, economic one, he was, of course, unable to give me an immediate reply but would expedite matters as much as possible. He said, however, that the Polish Government must maintain a favorable trade balance and that it therefore could not abandon its system of contingents and compensatory exports. He added that the contingent system is in force throughout Europe. I stressed the importance of immediate action since the information sought was for the purpose of enabling the American Government to study foreign trade between the United States and Poland along the line we had discussed. The Minister promised to supply me with information that would enable me to cable the Department within three days.
[Page 632]I left with the Minister for Foreign Affairs the memorandum dated March 8, 1935, herewith appended.5
Respectfully yours,