641.116/2523: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy)

1429. Your No. 2344, November 13, 10 p.m. Please make a strenuous protest against proposed British prohibition of imports of apples [Page 227] and pears from the United States. In view of the very important proportion of the domestic commercial production of both apples and pears that are normally exported and the high percentage of our exports that go to the United Kingdom, the proposed prohibition would be a severe blow to our producers. The prohibition would nullify important concessions made in the trade agreement and weaken our position against the strong interests which are urging denunciation, of agreement through invoking the exchange depreciation article.

The apple producers have made recent representations that the exchange article in the Canadian Agreement17 be invoked so that imports of Canadian apples into the United States can be restricted. They contend that the shortage of tonnage for transporting Canadian apples to Europe and the restricted demand in Europe will result in dumping of Canadian apples on the already seriously depressed domestic market. The announcement of the United Kingdom restrictions will certainly intensify agitation for action affecting both the Canadian and United Kingdom agreements.

Welles
  1. Article XIII of reciprocal trade agreement between the United States and Canada, signed November 17, 1938. For correspondence on the agreement, see Foreign Relations, 1938, vol. ii, pp. 164 ff; for text, see Department of State Executive Agreement Series No. 149, or 53 Stat. 2348.