611.623/256

The Acting Secretary of State to the German Chargé (Thomsen)

The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of Germany, and transmits the following information received from the Treasury Department in relation to and supplementing the Treasury’s statements transmitted in the Acting Secretary’s note of this date57 concerning certain types of transactions which the German Government proposes to permit in furtherance of German-American trade:

The Treasury Department has information concerning plans of traders to engage in transactions which will comply with German regulations but will nevertheless, apparently without the knowledge of the German Government, result in reductions in the cost of German goods to American importers in such manner as may constitute the payment or allowance of a bounty or grant upon the exportation of the goods from Germany. In view of this information, a proper enforcement of the tariff laws of the United States will probably require the promulgation of regulations requiring special declarations from American importers of German goods.

  1. Infra.