611.60F31/531: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Czechoslovakia (Carr)
52. Your telegram 73, December 14, 4 p.m., last paragraph. The memorandum enclosed with despatch 209 of September 15 was meant to cover both import licenses and fixed quantitative restrictions. While we regret that there may have been confusion in the minds of the Czechoslovaks with regard to just what we had in mind, it seems evident to us that there is no great distinction between fixed quantitative allocations, that is fixed quotas, and the arbitrary restriction and control of trade through an import permit system. Under a fixed quantitative allocation American exporters know just how much of any commodity they may export to Czechoslovakia within a given period. Where there is no fixed quantitative allocation the American exporter has no idea how much of a given commodity may be exported. Either system involves quantitative limitation, otherwise the system of import permits has no purpose.