611.60C31/170
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Trade Agreements (Hawkins)
Mr. Wankowicz, Counselor of the Polish Embassy, called today in regard to the visit to this country on June 7 of Mr. Mieczyslaw Sokolowski, Under Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to discuss the basis for a trade agreement. He said that Mr. Sokolowski would be here for about ten days and would like to devote most of the time to discussing the above subject with a view to obtaining as complete an understanding as possible as to the general provisions of the agreement as well as the scope of the concessions which each country might be able to grant to the other.
Mr. Wankowicz said he and his Government realize that no final decisions can be reached as to the provisions of the agreement in view of the necessity of obtaining approval by our interdepartmental committee. He hoped, however, that it might be possible to reach an ad referendum understanding as to the probable scope of the concessions and possibly even a definite decision as to the text of the general provisions. I told him that I was doubtful whether final decisions on any of the provisions of the proposed agreement could be reached while Mr. Sokolowski was here, as it takes considerable time to clear such matters through the interdepartmental organization, but that we would go as far as we could in trying to reach a tentative understanding with him as to the probable scope and content of the agreement.
Mr. Wankowicz then asked that he be given copies of memoranda of our two previous discussions7 so that he could bring Mr. Sokolowski up to date as soon as he gets here. He also asked for an outline of our new procedure with respect to public announcements and hearings and for copies of our standard general provisions. He said he would like to have this material by Wednesday, June 2, if possible. I said that memoranda of discussions are prepared only for Departmental use and are not usually given out but that I would be glad to send him at least an outline of the points covered in the memoranda, and also the other material which he requested.
[Mr. Mieczyslaw Sokolowski arrived in Washington for exploratory conversations with officials of the Government of the United [Page 530] States, which were held from June 8 to 14, 1937, regarding the possible basis for a reciprocal trade agreement between the United States and Poland. In its press release of June 15, 1937, the Department of State declared that the question had not yet “reached the stage where any announcement of negotiations can be made.” See Department of State, Press Releases, June 19, 1937, page 422.]