611.623/247
The German Embassy to the Department of State
The German Embassy presents its compliments to the Department of State and has the honor to transmit the following information upon instruction from its government.
The German Government has taken cognizance of the contents of the note of the Department of State dated October 6,54 according to which the Treasury Department has ruled that the use of registered marks for the payment, in whole or in part, of German merchandise does not necessarily entail the application of the provisions of Section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930, provided that the registered marks so used were originally and continuously owned by the person for whose account such merchandise is purchased and imported into the United States.
In view of the ruling of the Treasury Department the German Government wishes to inform the United States Government that it desires the purport of its statement of August 12 to be understood to the effect that, in general, it does not comprise transactions where
- (a)
- the purchase price is paid, in whole or in part, in controlled marks, and no other exchange equalization procedure is applied, and where, furthermore, the controlled mark amounts used for payment were originally and continuously owned by the person for whose account the merchandise is imported into the United States;
- (b)
- the purchase price is paid, in whole or in part, with the proceeds from the sale of merchandise imported from the United States, and no other exchange equalization procedure is applied, and where, furthermore, the proceeds from sales used for payment were originally and continuously owned by the person for whose account the merchandise is imported into the United States;
- (c)
- single German and American parties exchange merchandise without any monetary transaction actually taking place, and where no other exchange equalization procedure is applied.
While the German Government regards transactions of this kind only as a palliative which is not adequate to restore German-American trade, it is disposed to make full use of the limited possibilities they offer in order to maintain this trade at least to a certain extent.
[Page 252]The German Embassy would appreciate it if the Department of State would bring the foregoing to the attention of the Bureau of Customs of the Treasury Department with all possible expedition.
- Not printed.↩