611.1631/110d
The Secretary of State to
the Minister in El Salvador (Corrigan)
No. 99
Washington, April 6, 1935.
Sir: I am transmitting herewith a list of
concessions and assurances9 which the United States desires to obtain from El
Salvador in connection with the proposed Trade Agreement between the two
countries. This list is known as Schedule I.
Please present this list to the Salvadoran Government, together with an
aide-mémoire, the text of which is enclosed
herewith.
Under cover of a separate instruction, which left by pouch on March 30,
1935, I transmitted one copy of the mimeographed report on Schedule I
prepared by the Country Committee on Trade Agreements with Central
America. The changes made in this report during the course of its
examination by the Trade Agreements Committee have been noted therein,
and a supplemental report on textile recommendations has been included,
substantially modifying and limiting the recommendations contained in
the report transmitted to you by the Department’s instruction No. 90 of
March 26, 1935.9
Your attention is invited to the several points discussed in the aide-mémoire attached hereto.
I believe that you will be in a position, after a study of the various
reports that have been sent you, to clear up any question which the
Salvadoran Government may raise in regard to the Agreement in its
present phase.
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You are requested to keep the Department informed of all developments in
connection with the Agreement and to transmit promptly any
counterproposals or suggestions made by the Salvadoran Government in
order that they may be studied and acted on by those officials charged
with the execution of the trade agreements program.
Very truly yours,
For the Secretary of State:
Francis
B. Sayre
[Enclosure]
Draft “Aide-Mémoire” To Be Presented to the
Salvadoran Ministry for Foreign Affairs by the American
Legation
Attached to this memorandum is a Schedule listing under three
categories concessions and assurances on certain commodities
exported by the United States to El Salvador which the United States
is requesting of the Government of El Salvador in connection with
the proposed Trade Agreement between the two countries.
Included under category (a) are the reductions
in import duty sought by the United States on certain specified
commodities; under (b) is included a list of
items on which it is requested that the Salvadoran Government not
raise the import duty during the life of the proposed Agreement;
while under (c) four miscellaneous requests
are made, concerning, in the order they are named, the treatment
requested by the United States in connection with pharmaceutical
specialties and patent medicines exported to El Salvador (Notes 1
and 2), integration of the import duties on wheat and wheat flour
(Note 3), and the abolition of the present internal taxes on
imported wheat and on flour made of imported wheat (Note 4).
In describing the articles on the attached Schedule, every effort has
been exerted to conform as closely as possible with the nomenclature
used in the Salvadoran customs tariff. In many cases, however, the
nomenclature of the Salvadoran customs tariff and that given under
the column “Description of Articles” differ, because the concession
sought by the United States is more restricted in scope than the
language used in the corresponding item of the Salvadoran customs
tariff. It is therefore pointed out that the tariff item numbers
inserted in the attached Schedule have been cited principally for
the convenience of the Salvadoran Government. The description of the
articles given controls the scope of the concession or assurance in
question.
In those cases where exports from the United States to El Salvador
receive the benefit of a lower, conventional rate by virtue of
generalization to the United States of the concessions made by El
Salvador to France and Italy in commercial treaties with those
nations, the
[Page 543]
conventional
rates of duty have been indicated on the attached list under the
column “Present actual duty in United States dollars.” These rates
have been used instead of the respective nominal rates given in the
Salvadoran customs tariff and which presumably apply, subject to the
effects of the triple-column tariff law now in effect, to nations
with which El Salvador does not have most-favored-nation
commitments.
With regard to item No. 212–1–07–001, wheat: the present duty, as
indicated on the attached list, is $8.80 per 100 gross kilos. The
Government of the United States, in requesting a rate on wheat
exported to El Salvador of $2.50 per 100 gross kilos, understands
that this is the duty actually in effect at the present time for
Salvadoran wheat importers and millers. This request, therefore, is
not considered a request for a concession, but as an assurance that
the actual rate of $2.50 will apply to wheat exported from the
United States to El Salvador during the life of the Agreement.
In no case has a preferential tariff rate been requested for products
of the United States as compared with similar products from any
third country.
It is understood that the Government of the United States reserves
the privilege of suggesting such changes in this Schedule as may on
further consideration seem desirable prior to its final approval by
both Governments.
The Government of the United States expects in the near future to
submit a preliminary draft of the General Provisions, which,
together with the Schedules setting forth the concessions and
assurances that may be reciprocally granted by the United States and
El Salvador, will constitute the Trade Agreement which it is hoped
will be approved within the near future by the two Governments.
The Government of the United States is prepared to receive and give
serious consideration to any proposals that the Salvadoran
Government may choose to present in connection with possible tariff
concessions which the United States might grant on products exported
by El Salvador to the United States of America, as well as to any
other proposals which the Government of El Salvador might wish to
have considered in connection with the proposed Trade Agreement.
