611.2531/585a
The Secretary of State to the Chilean Ambassador (Cabero)
Excellency: You will recall that pursuant to conversations between officials of our Governments which established a mutual readiness to undertake the negotiation of a reciprocal trade agreement between the United States and Chile, there was issued by my Government on October 2, 1939 a public notice of intention to negotiate such an agreement, together with an accompanying list of products on which the United States would consider the granting of concessions, the text of this notice and list having previously been shown to you and having received your concurrence on behalf of your Government.
The public hearings scheduled pursuant to that notice were held in Washington on November 27, 1939, and thereafter the appropriate departments of my Government have been engaged in making the customary studies of the information received orally and in writing as a result of the notice. These studies having been completed, I now have the honor to submit, in the form of a memorandum which is enclosed,34 the proposals of my Government with respect to the concessions which it is willing to grant in the present tariff treatment accorded certain Chilean products upon their importation into the United States, in return for concessions with reference to the tariff treatment accorded certain United States products upon their importation [Page 430] into Chile, concerning which a memorandum is also enclosed.35 The offers of the United States set forth in the attached memorandum are, of course, contingent upon agreement being reached on the general provisions to be included in the trade agreement, which are now the subject of discussions between representatives of our Governments.
In setting forth the concessions which my Government is prepared to grant to facilitate the importation of Chilean products into the United States, full account has been taken of the desirability of bringing the present negotiations to an early conclusion. The concessions offered, therefore, represent the maximum which my Government finds itself in a position to grant. Likewise, in preparing the list of United States products upon which concessions are requested of Your Excellency’s Government, every effort has been made to restrict the requests therein to a minimum which can be accepted by the Chilean Government without difficulty or undue delay, and which will represent a fair equivalent for the benefits offered for Chilean products.
Accept [etc.]