611.2231/84: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in Ecuador (Sparks)
41. Referring to your telegram No. 55, November 23, 5 p.m. and despatch No. 607 of November 23, 1936.27 Even though advantages from possible concessions by Ecuador on flour and lard may temporarily be shared by the United States with other suppliers statistics show that even under present conditions we are able to supply enough of these commodities to Ecuador to make concessions worthwhile. Furthermore, as exportable supplies of lard and flour accumulate in the United States, as they are expected to do in 1937 in the case of wheat and perhaps in 1938 for lard, there is the probability that we will eventually regain the supremacy which we enjoyed in these products in the Ecuadoran market until a few years ago.
As regards the policy which Ecuador has recently been following as respects flour imports, involving removal of import duties during specified periods in order to make up deficiencies in domestic supplies, [Page 507] the Government of the United States believes that with good will on both sides, a mutually satisfactory arrangement of some kind can be worked out.
You are therefore requested to open preliminary conversations with the Ecuadoran Government on the first favorable opportunity and to report the results as soon as possible.
- Despatch not printed.↩