611.573 Whale Oil/230
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Sayre)
Dr. Koht, accompanied by Mr. Morgenstierne, came in to see me for a few minutes this morning. He left with me the accompanying memorandum10 concerning the whaling industry which he said had been prepared by Professor Bergersen, the President of the Whaling Council. Dr. Koht said that he is much concerned about the danger of extermination of whales.
The main object of his visit was to ask clarification concerning our position with respect to whale oil in a possible Norwegian trade agreement. He said that he had always understood that we would be willing to reduce the duty on whale oil by 50 per cent, and that the position which I took in our conversation the other day—of granting a reduction on whale oil only to the extent necessary in order to put whale [Page 524] oil on a proper competitive basis with tallow and with palm oil—was a surprise and would distinctly disappoint Norwegian whaling interests. I said, in reply, that since the original conversations, taxes had been levied on the competitive oils and that if we would restore the status quo ante we would have to consider the changed conditions. I said that the fairest thing seemed to me to seek to place whale oil on a true competitive basis with these other interchangeable commodities. I added that how great a cut we could make in the whale oil duty would depend upon the result of our studies if and when we undertake actual negotiations.
- Not printed.↩