Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1939, The American Republics, Volume V

611.3531/797½

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Sayre)

[Washington,] March 23, 1939.

Participants:	The President,
	Mr. Welles,7
	Mr. Sayre.

Mr. Welles and I saw the President this afternoon at 3:15 concerning the cotton export subsidy proposal and also concerning the Argentine trade agreement. Regarding the latter, we outlined to the President the critical situation now existing with respect to our trade in the Argentine and briefly described the existing situation. Mr. Welles said that he wanted to ask the President’s help in making possible the negotiation of a trade agreement. I said that the wisest plan would be not to make any public announcement of negotiations until about July first but, in the meantime, to enter into confidential conversations with the Argentine Government in order to find a sound basis for negotiations. I suggested that we would then probably be able to conclude the negotiations in September or October. The President replied that he felt that would be too late and that the agreement should be concluded in August.

I showed the President the proposed concessions as outlined in the memorandum dated February 18, 1939 covering canned beef, pickled and cured beef, cattle hides, corn and edible and inedible tallow, oleo oil and oleo stearin. The President agreed to these except that as to canned beef he suggested that we find some way of classifying the canned beef into several grades and giving the concession on those grades which are almost entirely supplied to the United States from the Argentine but which are not produced in the United States. I explained to him that a general concession in canned beef was fully justified on economic grounds and he replied that in spite of this it would be necessary to have some trimmings to prevent complaint that we were giving away our market to Argentina.

The President also said that for similar reasons he hoped we would be able to impose a quota on canned beef.

The President promised to speak to Secretary Wallace⁸ about the trade agreement tomorrow and tell him that he, the President, desires a trade agreement with Argentina.

F[rancis] B. S[ayre]

7. Sumner Welles, Under Secretary of State.
8. Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture.