892.6363/145
The First Secretary of the British Embassy (Thorold) to Mr. Willys R. Peck of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs
Dear Mr. Peck: As I promised you in our telephone conversation this morning, I am giving you particulars of the position regarding rubber and tin in Thailand as communicated to us by our Minister in his cable of June 22nd.
Sir J. Crosby informs us that the Thai Prime Minister told him that 30,000 tons of rubber had been promised to Japan as long ago as May 20 but that he would be willing to assign 18,000 tons to Malaya. It is probable that these two amounts would approximately cover the likely rubber production in Thailand over a twelve-month period but the question of the allocation of any surplus is still under consideration. However, I do not think that we need take the Prime Minister’s statement as necessarily meaning a firm commitment to the Japanese and I believe we should act on the assumption that the possibility of securing economic assistance from the United States Government may well have the effect of substantially reducing the quantity allocated to Japan.
[Page 189]With regard to tin, Sir J. Crosby states that British and Australian mining companies in Thailand control over two-thirds of the total production and continue to send their ore to Malaya. We understand that under present circumstances at least, the Thai Government will not be interfering with the destination of the ore produced by these companies.
As regards the remainder of the ore produced (representing about 5,000 tons in terms of metallic tin) a fierce price war is being waged in the open market. The Thai Government, and Japanese, German and Italian buyers are offering up to 80% above Singapore prices. The Thai Government is apparently anxious to retain an open market for the tin produced by non-British Companies but here again I think we should assume that they might be prepared to allocate at least part of the quantity in question for sale to United States interests at reasonable prices, if they were persuaded that by such action they could secure your economic assistance.
Yours sincerely,