800.857/675
The American Embassy in Argentina to the Argentine Ministry for Foreign Affairs43
Memorandum
The Embassy of the United States of America makes reference to Decree No. 116279 promulgated by the Argentine Government on March 26, 1942, concerning repairs to ships under foreign flags which are to be made in the shipyards within the territory of the Argentine Republic and respectfully invites the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship to the following observations of the Department of State relative to the provisions of this measure:
The Government of the United States has allocated to the Argentine shipyards certain quantities of materials for the purpose of repairing ships of friendly nations, that is, those of the United Nations and of the American Republics. Many of such countries are unable to replace materials utilized in the repair of their ships as required by Decree No. 116279, and the Government of the United States recognizing this situation has acted accordingly in making allocations of steel plates and other repair materials for use in Argentina.
It is believed that the measures proposed in the decree above referred to would seriously delay the repair of ships which are working directly or indirectly in the United Nations’ war effort, since the decree provides that estimates or contracts covering the work to be undertaken for the repair of ships in Argentine shipyards must be submitted to the Ministry of Marine and authorization granted before repairs to ships can be undertaken. Furthermore, ships under the registry of the United States Government are now operated by the War Shipping Administration, an agency of the United States Government, and it would not seem consistent for the Argentine Government to require a deposit by the United States Government as a guarantee for the replacement of materials utilized in the repair of its ships, since such materials in most cases would have been previously allocated to Argentine shipyards by the United States.
Therefore the Government of the United States ventures to express the hope that the Argentine Government will modify the terms of Decree No. 116279 with a view to permitting the materials that are supplied from the United States to be made available to all ships of friendly nations without the obligation of replacement and thus not render it necessary for ships in need of repairs to proceed to other ports where facilities might be less adequate than those in Argentine shipyards.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in Argentina in his despatch No. 5171, May 21; received May 28.↩