811.20 Defense (M)/281: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Turkey ( MacMurray )
66. Department’s 41, July 26, 1940, 6 p.m. to Istanbul. High freight and insurance costs from Turkey to the United States and f. o. b. prices in Turkey based on the price of 105 shillings reached in negotiations between the British and Turkish Governments indicate a c. i. f. United States quotation for Turkish chrome between $43 and $45 per ton as compared with the current market price for Rhodesian chrome of approximately $29. The Procurement Division of the Treasury is unwilling to consider further purchases of Turkish chrome so long as such a price differential prevails.
Unless you see some likelihood that the Turkish Government could be persuaded to quote a price very considerably below the price guaranteed by the British, this Government will wish to drop, for the present, all attempts to purchase from the Turkish Government.
For your confidential information, this Government intends to explore the possibility of some arrangement with the British Government which would make Turkish chrome available to this Government at a price at or near the present market quotations here.