811.20 Defense (M) Spain/1182: Telegram
The Ambassador in Spain (Hayes) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 16—4:05 a.m.]
3342. The purpose of prohibiting wolfram exports from Spain would be to deny this important strategic material to the Germans. As the Department is aware that Germany obtains considerably larger quantities of wolfram from Portugal87 than from Spain, I assume it understands that action by the Spanish Government alone will not accomplish this end. So long as wolfram continues to be purchased at attractive prices producers or intermediaries will use every device to dispose of the excess over domestic requirements and will not hesitate to smuggle into Portugal, bribing border officials or others where necessary. Likewise the strategic location of German mines on both sides of the border will make it difficult if not impossible for the Spanish authorities to prevent wolfram from being moved to the Portuguese side where the bulk of it would reappear as mineral from German mines and not in the neutral pool. The extent of such smuggling would be affected by prices offered but our experts estimate that with Portuguese prices at present levels the minimum flow into Portugal per month would be 100 tons. Our estimate of present German acquisitions in Spain is 60 tons monthly.
Spanish officials have already inquired whether we intend to request Portugal to prohibit wolfram exports to Germany. It appears to them to be a peninsular problem as Portuguese wolfram continues to be transported over Spanish railways in blacked [-out?] trains even when the Spanish Government has been refusing export permits to the Germans for Spanish wolfram.
I understand that in recent conversations with the Portuguese Government concerning readjustment of wolfram prices the Portuguese definitely stated that they would not make any change in their wolfram policy as between the belligerents.
As soon as I receive instructions from the Department in respect to my No. 3302, November 11, 7 p.m., it is my intention to press for this prohibition but I believe that a prohibition in Spain without parallel action in Portugal would be a boomerang which would give Germany a larger amount of wolfram from the peninsula than she is now getting.
Repeated to Lisbon.