811.20 (D) Regulations/5437
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Henderson)
Mr. Oumansky called me by telephone this afternoon and said that he was sorry to inform me that more machine tools sold to the Soviet Union were being requisitioned. He said that the Soviet purchasing agencies had bought ten machine tools from the Gear Grinding Machine Company of Detroit, Michigan. Export licenses had been issued covering all of them. Of these ten machines, six had been inspected, accepted, and shipped to the docks in New York. They had arrived at the docks on December 16. According to the Customs authorities, a telephone call from Mr. Schnee of the State Department stopped the loading of these machines. Mr. Schnee had informed the authorities that the export licenses which had been granted would be revoked. Out of the six machines at the docks, four have already been requisitioned and diverted to American use. The value of the ten machines was $64,349.
The Ambassador said that another machine had been purchased by Soviet authorities from the Federal Machine and Welding Company of Warren, Ohio. This machine was an electrical welding machine. The licenses which had been issued for the export of this machine had also been revoked. The Ambassador said that he had discussed this machine with Mr. Welles in October, and Mr. Welles had promised to look into the matter. The value of the welding machine was $200,000.
The Ambassador expressed the hope that the Department could take some steps in order that new export licenses would be issued permitting the forwarding of these machines to the Soviet Union where they were badly needed.