740.00112 European War 1939/560: Telegram
The Minister in Sweden (Sterling) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 25—10:05 a.m.]
208. Sweden is making a strong attempt to deter Great Britain from its proposed blockade of German exports. Nevertheless, no official protest has been made and none is at present contemplated. Germany transships practically no goods through Sweden and very few Swedish manufactured exports use German raw materials so that Sweden would suffer mostly inconvenience. What is feared, however, is a German blockade of British exports in retaliation. This might paralyze Swedish shipping and seriously affect its trade with all countries. Sweden has pointed out to Great Britain that the application of this blockade to Swedish ships will place the Swedish-British negotiations now in progress on an entirely different basis.