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,

E. S. Land
  1. Not printed.
  2. Note of November 24, p. 91.