740.00112 European War 1939/2654

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Villard)

Mr. Guerin came in to say that he had received private word to the effect that he had been appointed to negotiate with this Government on economic problems in behalf of the French North African territories. The French Ambassador had cabled to Vichy the suggestion that Mr. Guerin be appointed, and a reply had now been received under which it appeared that Mr. Guerin would be named by General Weygand and with Vichy interposing no objection. Mr. Guerin stated that he was prepared to initiate informal discussions immediately in respect to trade with North Africa, pending official confirmation of his appointment.

Mr. Guerin said that the conversations might be divided into four subjects: (1) The Assurances or Guarantees Against Reexport; (2) The Quantities of Supplies to be Imported into North Africa; (3) [Page 222] Methods of Finance; and (4) Transportation. The following observations were made on these different subjects.

(1)
Guarantees. Mr. Guerin said that the French authorities were prepared to give any kind of assurances desired by this Government that importations into North Africa would be limited strictly to local consumption and would under no circumstances be reexported to any destination. I said that we would probably rely chiefly on the word of General Weygand for these assurances, and that we expected to hear shortly from Mr. Murphy as to the outcome of his discussions with General Weygand on this point. However I said that the question of appointing American control officials was also under consideration, and that we were giving thought to the possibility of having our consular officers in North Africa exercise a certain amount of supervision. Mr. Guerin suggested the following places as suitable and strategic locations for the supervision and control of imports:
  • Morocco. (1) Casablanca; (2) Petit Jean (an important railroad junction controlling traffic to Casablanca, Tangier, and Port Lyautey; (3) Oudja (a road and rail junction through which must pass all traffic from Morocco to Algeria, and to the important Mediterranean port of Nemours).
  • Algeria. (1) Oran, or a small junction point 12 miles outside of the city; (2) Algiers; (3) Bone, which can be controlled from the junction at Guelma.
  • Tunisia. Probably one control officer at Tunis could supervise the traffic through that port, as well as Bizerte, Sousse, and Sfax.
(2)
Quantities of Supplies. Mr. Guerin had prepared a list of urgently needed supplies for North Africa from information furnished by cable by the French authorities. He had also obtained a statement of the normal consumption of various commodities through sources in the French Commercial Attaché’s Office in New York. I told Mr. Guerin that we would be glad to have a copy of this detailed list, although we expected to receive similar statements from other sources. I remarked that the list prepared by Mr. Guerin showed a very wide variety of products and that while it was impossible to express an opinion without further study, it seemed to me advisable not to present too large a request at the start. Mr. Guerin said that he would limit himself at the beginning to the immediate and urgent needs of French Africa, which could go forward as emergency shipments, details of a regular supply to be worked out later.
(3)
Financing. Mr. Guerin stated that there were ample funds blocked in this country belonging to the French Government which would take care of all the needs of the North African territories. He said it would be entirely unnecessary to import gold for the purpose. The only question was the matter of unfreezing the necessary funds for each shipment, and I suggested that the best method might be for Mr. Guerin to present us with a detailed statement in the case of each shipment. We could then, if the amounts met with our approval, pass the word along to the Treasury Department to release the necessary funds. The details of purchase would, of course, be worked out by Mr. Guerin with the aid of French Embassy officials.
(4)
Transportation. Mr. Guerin said that there were immediately available two tankers and four commercial vessels flying the French [Page 223] flag, which were now in American ports and ready to sail for North Africa whenever cargoes were provided. One tanker could take 10,000 tons of oil and the other one could handle 16,000 tons. Six weeks would be required for a round trip in the case of these tankers. The commercial vessels together could carry about 30,000 tons of general cargo per month.

Mr. Guerin said that he wished to make it entirely clear that he was prepared to cooperate with us in every respect, to give any assurances or guarantees that might be required, and to follow our wishes in every way. He said he would be at our disposal as soon as we were ready to proceed further with the discussions, and that in the meantime he would submit a copy of his list of needed supplies. I told Mr. Guerin that we would let him know as soon as we had further word for him.