611.833/62
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Alling)
| Participants: | The Egyptian Minister;6 |
| Mr. Rady, First Secretary of the Egyptian Legation; | |
| Mr. Murray;7 | |
| Mr. Hawkins; | |
| Mr. Reinstein; | |
| Mr. Alling. |
The Egyptian Minister called today by appointment to discuss further the status of the request of the Egyptian Government for a reduction [Page 709] in or abolition of the duty on long-staple cotton. The Minister rehearsed at some length the unfavorable effect which the present duty had had upon exports of cotton from his country to the United States, stressed the fact that his Government had, up to the present, taken no retaliatory measures against American trade and expressed the strong hope that early action would be taken to give his Government satisfaction. Mr. Murray and Mr. Hawkins explained to the Minister in detail the machinery used in the negotiation of trade agreements and also explained that a reduction in the duty on cotton could for all practical purposes be brought about only through a trade agreement. The Minister was given further assurance by Mr. Hawkins that the various interested departments and agencies of the Government were pressing their studies as rapidly as possible and that it was hoped that some decision could be reached in the not distant future. The Minister replied that the matter had been under consideration for several years, that one of the main reasons he had been sent here was to try to reach an agreement on this important question and he again expressed the hope that a decision could be expedited.