611.3531/899
Memorandum of Conversations, by the Chief of the Division of Trade Agreements (Hawkins)
The Argentine Ambassador15 called to inquire as to the progress we were making in regard to our reply to the Argentine note on the proposed trade agreement. I told the Ambassador that we were hard at work on it with a view to getting a reply to them as soon as possible. He asked me my personal opinion as to whether the Argentine position as outlined in its recent note is such as to constitute a basis for a trade agreement. I told him that with regard to the most important point, namely the abandonment of the bilateral system and the use of exchange control to effectuate this system, the situation seemed to me satisfactory. I mentioned, however, one or two points in the Argentine note which had caused me a little concern. First was the statement that the Argentine Government accepts the present list of products on which concessions might be granted by the United States on the understanding that maximum reductions can be obtained on these products. I said that we can not, of course, agree, even tacitly, in advance of negotiations and public hearings on the concessions to be granted; that while we are reasonably satisfied that concessions could be granted which would make the agreement worth while to Argentina, we can not determine until we get into actual negotiations what concessions can be granted. The second point that [Page 250] caused me some doubt was the implication in the Argentine note that in allocating any quotas that might be established for the protection of the Argentine currency the share allotted to the United States would be variable. I said that this seemed to reflect some misunderstanding of our position; that while our proposal did contemplate some flexibility in the percentual share allotted to the United States, any such variation would in my opinion be justified only in very exceptional cases. The Ambassador said he felt sure that neither of these points would create any difficulty at all.
The Ambassador himself raised a further point which needs a little clarification. He said that he had noted the Argentine reservation of the right to propose, during the negotiations, additional products on which concessions might be requested of the United States. The Ambassador said he fully understood our procedure on this point and that it would not be possible without additional notice and hearings to consider any products not on the original published list.
August 17, 1939.
The Ambassador phoned me this morning and said that after his conversation with me he had talked to Irigoyen,16 who is now in Buenos Aires, over long distance telephone on another matter and had taken the occasion to mention the personal doubts which I had expressed on the points mentioned above. Irigoyen said that we need have no apprehension whatever on the points referred to; that the Argentine Government in drafting its note to us was fully aware of the fact that no decision as regards the concessions to be made by the United States could be reached until after our hearings and that announcement of negotiations on the basis of the Argentine note would put us under no obligations whatever, tacit or otherwise. With respect to the second point Irigoyen said that apparently the Argentine note had given an impression contrary to what was in the minds of the Argentine officials; that he clearly understood that variations in the percentual share would be definitely exceptional.
The Ambassador said he had also referred, in his telephone conversation with Irigoyen, to the Argentine reservation regarding the addition of products for consideration during the negotiations and pointed out to him that under our procedure this would involve an additional notice and hearings and would not, therefore, be practicable. The Ambassador said that Irigoyen said that he was aware of our procedure on this point, as were his colleagues in Buenos Aires; that the reservation was put in only to satisfy the Minister of Agriculture and that we would not need to worry about their taking any advantage of it.