Office of the Historian

740.00112 European War 1939/9129: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, August 17, 1943—9 p.m.
[Received August 18—9:25 a.m.]

5402. For Department and OEW from Riefler. In accordance with your 4943, August 14, Foot and I are handing a memorandum as follows to the Swiss Minister in London this afternoon:

  • “1. His Majesty’s Government and the United States Government have now considered the Swiss Government’s latest proposals, of which M. Thurnheer handed a translation to Mr. Foot on 3rd August.53
  • 2. The proposals now put forward by the Swiss Government fall considerably short of those suggested by the two Governments in Mr. Foot’s letter of 3rd July. Nevertheless the two Governments are prepared immediately to reopen the food quotas at one-half of what they would otherwise have been, on the following understandings:
    (I)
    The limitations on Swiss exports of arms and machinery to all European Axis and occupied countries as proposed in the Swiss memorandum of 30 July 1943, will be observed from now on.
    (II)
    Adjustments in these limitations will be made in respect of any country or area in Axis Europe dropping out of the war.
    (III)
    The Swiss Government will not allow any further difficulty to arise in making available to His Majesty’s Government [Page 864] reasonable amounts of Swiss francs for current requirements pending resumption of negotiations with His Majesty’s Treasury.
  • 3. On these understandings the two Governments will be willing to receive the Swiss trade delegation and to resume the negotiations which were broken off in December 1942. They intend within a few days to put forward a list of subjects, which they would wish to see included in the agenda of such negotiations, and they hope that the delegation will come with the instructions to enable them to deal with these subjects.
  • 4. As has already been pointed out to His Excellency the Swiss Minister in London, the two Governments regard these proposed arrangements with reference to Swiss exports as appropriate only during the present circumstances. If, as the result of the withdrawal of Italy from the war or of any other cause, the Swiss frontier is open and Switzerland is again free from Axis restraint on her trade with the outside world, they will expect the Swiss Government to enter into further commercial arrangements, involving inter alia a more considerable reduction in Swiss trade with Germany and Germanoccupied or -controlled Europe.”

In line with your 4943, this memorandum makes no mention of our intention to resume listing pressure. Department’s 4943 has been repeated to Bern with suggestion that Legation resume listing pressure if it agrees with you, as we do, that no formal notice of resumption is needed, especially since MEW informed British Legation Bern simultaneously with its oral advice to Swiss Legation in June that we no longer felt obliged to continue our temporary cessation of pressure in view of the unsatisfactory delays in execution of compensation agreement.

We urgently desire to resume listing because present stage of war leaves more to be gained by quick denial of Swiss facilities to enemy than by maintaining our own lines of Swiss supply across Italian territory. Although we do not feel bound to inform the Swiss of our intention to resume listing pressure, we considered it tactically wise to do so prior to the return of the Swiss Delegation to London. This can, however, be treated separately.

We all agree that Swiss meant the contrary of your suggestion numbered 1, which is therefore omitted from the foregoing memorandum to the Swiss, since it would merely delay resumption of the negotiations to raise it. In any case items 956a/f and M9 are of small weight and value and were apparently lumped intentionally by the Swiss in view of the difficulty of regulating machinery not specified elsewhere. Enemy Resources Department has no substantial objection to this lumping.

Our memorandum does not mention oats. Making them conditional upon Swiss performance of their offering regarding dairy products would involve half of the whole fodder quota of 81,000 tons per quarter, which we wanted to reserve for negotiation in London. Without giving away the fodder quota, we were willing to grant the Swiss [Page 865] the 4,000 tons of oats requested for exclusive use of Swiss Army as an advance on the compensation deal where it would displace metals provided for therein. We do not anticipate that dairy produce exports will increase. Your comment would be appreciated.

Repeated to Bern. [Riefler.]

Winant
  1. See telegram No. 5105, August 5, from the Ambassador in the United Kingdom, p. 859.↩