811.20 Defense (M) Argentina/109: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the American Delegation to the Third Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the American Republics at Rio de Janeiro2

10. For the Under Secretary of State3 from Acheson.4 As you know, negotiations have been under way for some time between the Federal Loan Agency,5 assisted by Ambassador Armour, and the Argentine Government looking to the purchase by the Loan Agency of the exportable surpluses of a long list of Argentine commodities. Of these, the most interesting from the point of view of Argentina is unquestionably linseed. The negotiations up to the present with regard to linseed have been held up because of the failure to agree on price. Today the Federal Loan Agency has agreed, contingent on the satisfactory conclusion of the entire agreement as to the rest of the commodities, to underwrite the purchase of 30,000,000 bushels of linseed, partly from the old and partly from the new crop, at $1.10 per bushel, f.o.b. Buenos Aires. This price we are informed by the representative of the Loan Agency6 who has been conducting the negotiations in Buenos Aires, will be regarded as entirely satisfactory by the Argentine authorities. I am sending you this information because I believe that you may want to communicate it to the Argentine authorities. [Acheson.]

Hull
  1. For correspondence concerning this meeting, see pp. 6 ff.
  2. Sumner Welles, at this time representing the United States at the Foreign Ministers’ meeting at Rio de Janeiro.
  3. Dean Acheson, Assistant Secretary of State.
  4. The Federal Loan Agency operated through instrumentalities such as the Metals Reserve Company and the United States Commercial Company.
  5. Thomas J. Williams.