611.41D31/62: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Ireland (Cudahy)
16. Tour No. 24, July 1, 4 p.m. On July 1 we asked Brennan, the Irish Chargé d’Affaires, to call at the Department and discussed with him the matter of an announcement at an early date of trade agreement [Page 192] negotiations between the two countries. We told Brennan of the conversations which have taken place between you and Irish officials and explained that we are ready to join with Ireland in making a public announcement regarding trade agreement negotiations at an early date. We added, however, that in view of the many ties which unite our two countries it would be little short of tragic for a public announcement to be made and later for our two Governments to find that they are “talking different languages” about trade agreement objectives.
We stated that we have every reason to assume that the Irish Government is prepared to enter upon negotiations on the basis which you set forth in pursuance of our instructions; that is, subject to the unconditional most-favored-nation principle and without reference to any aspect of the bilateral trade balance between the two countries. We added that we had previously explained to him and you had explained in Dublin our practice of bargaining with the principal supplier, or an important supplier, of commodities and the effect which this would necessarily have upon the negotiations between our two countries. We explained also that we are prepared to reconventionalize to Ireland a number of important reductions which have been granted to other countries but in which Ireland has a considerable interest. We referred to the list of products which the Irish Government handed to you and stated that prior to an announcement we would be glad to discuss these products and reach an agreement with the Irish Government regarding any list to be published. We added, however, that it would be helpful for us to have a more precise indication of the exact products in which Ireland is interested, particularly in the woolen and linen schedules.
We emphasized the fact that we feel certain that there is no point of difference in regard to all of these matters, but that we feel that in the interest of both countries it is essential that we be absolutely certain of this before announcing trade agreement negotiations. Brennan stated that he was in full agreement with us that we must be certain on both sides that we understand one another and that our objectives are the same. He stated that he would telegraph his Government at once along the lines of our conversation and communicate with us later.