740.00112 European War 1939/6599: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Harrison)
Washington, September
12, 1942—midnight.
2169. Reference your 4138 of September 9.
- 1.
- Department shares your views with respect to the advantages of compensation agreement and is pleased that Germans have agreed to accord transit permits for items covered.
- 2.
- You state that Germans will permit export of said items to the amount of 7½ million francs to United States and United Kingdom. Present compensation proposal is in the amount of $600,000. Does this mean that the German concessions would make possible compensation arrangement on larger scale?
- 3.
- You state that Germans have imposed condition to the effect that during operation of compensation agreement efforts to force Swiss firms to reduce deliveries of munitions to Germany must be discontinued. Please define exactly the type and scope of the efforts referred to. Do you mean efforts of the type exerted by you and your British colleague upon individual Swiss firms described in your 3541 of August 1.21 Are the Swiss firms to be relieved from this pressure only those firms engaged in the manufacture of the precision instruments which we are to get under the compensation agreement? To what extent are these efforts to be relaxed or discontinued? Is it not really a practical question to wit: you will exert all the pressure you can short of the point of causing the Germans to revoke transit permits?
- 4.
- Repeated to London for views of Embassy and MEW.
Hull
- Not printed.↩