611.3531/597
The Ambassador in Argentina ( Weddell ) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 15.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s telegram No. 11 of February 5, 3 p.m.15 and in connection therewith to report that [Page 281] during a conversation yesterday between Señor Torriani, Chief of the Economic Division of the Foreign Office, and the First Secretary of the Embassy the former took occasion to express in most emphatic terms what he indicated to be the Argentine Government’s point of view on the subject of granting official exchange to American imports. He declared that if a trade agreement were negotiated the Argentine Government would go no further with the United States than it had with other countries, namely, to grant official exchange to American imports only to the extent of the value of Argentine exports to the United States, permitting other American imports to enter Argentina through the free market. This, in his opinion, would constitute most-favored-nation treatment for the United States. It was pointed out then that the American Government’s adherence to the multilateral theory of trade was well known and that the Secretary of State had often pointed out his preference for this system instead of a bilateral balancing of exports and imports. This, however, did not appear to alter Sr. Torriani’s views as he indicated that the Argentine Government could not change its position in view of the character of the treaties negotiated with other countries, such as Great Britain.
Mr. Wilson then inquired whether the Argentine Government did not have a very large fund of exchange which had been accumulating for some time and which might possibly be used in order to grant more liberal conditions to American imports. He replied that he did not know how large this fund was but added that it had been liberally used to support the peso in the free market, which had been subject to attack from Europe ever since the coup d’etat of President Vargas in Brazil which weakened the confidence of some Europeans in the stability of the peso. In answer to a remark that Argentine exports to the United States were subject to no official limitation or discrimination in the matter of exchange he declared that the United States being a rich country could afford to do this, but that Argentina, being comparatively poor, was not in a position to show such generosity.
Respectfully yours,
First Secretary of Embassy
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