857.85/398
The War Shipping Administrator (Land) to the Assistant Secretary of State (Long)
Dear Mr. Long: Thank you for your letter of November 25th16 enclosing a copy of a note17 which the Department has received from the Norwegian Embassy concerning proposals of the Norwegian Government for a general shipping agreement between the Norwegian Government and the United States.
I have been informed that talks occurred in London between Mr. Sunde, Norwegian Minister of Shipping, Mr. Harriman and Lord Leathers, the Minister of War Transport, as a result of which it was agreed to attempt to work out a tri-partite shipping arrangement for the three Governments. Such an arrangement would be preferable to a bi-lateral agreement between the Norwegian Government and the United States because in accordance with the policies of the Combined Shipping Adjustment Board any such bi-lateral agreement would have to be consistent in all respects with Norwegian-British arrangements.
Accordingly, before any separate discussions take place between the Norwegian Government and the United States on shipping questions, we should continue to explore the possibility of a tri-partite arrangement, [Page 98] and I suggest that the proposed meeting on December 1, 1942, referred to in your letter, should be deferred for the time being.
Sincerely,