811.20 Defense (M)/1225
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Memorandum
With reference to the British Embassy’s Memorandum of February 14, 1941 transmitting the proposed text of an article for a United Kingdom-Bolivia tin ore agreement, the Department of State submits the following comments:
- 1.
- The Department is, of course, entirely agreeable in principle to the article in question and to its objective.
- 2.
- It appears, however, that the precise language of the suggested article may still fail to achieve the objective sought. Some Bolivian exporters who are now selling to Metals Reserve Company under the contract of November 4, 1940 did, during the last half of 1940, continue to export to the United Kingdom. The second half of 1940 therefore scarcely represented a typical period in the operation of the newly concluded contract of Metals Reserve Company, and it is not certain that this deviation will be entirely evened out in the first six months of 1941. If the basis of the formula suggested in the Embassy’s note were changed to refer to Bolivian exports in the six months ending June 30, 1941, or in the twelve months ending December 31, 1941, it is believed that any difficulties of this nature would be obviated.
Washington
, February
21, 1941.