811.24/1850a
Memorandum From Mr. Harry Dexter White, Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury (Morgenthau), to the Chief of the Financial Division (Livesey)
Please transmit the following cable to Ambassador Winant from the Secretary of the Treasury.84
Halifax has informed me that you or Averell Harriman are to discuss with the Chancellor of the Exchequer the advisability of extending the scope of the reciprocal aid program to cover certain U.S. Imports from the British Empire.
For your information, the developments to date have been:
An Interdepartmental Committee consisting of representatives of the Departments of State, Treasury and War, the Office of Lend-Lease Administration and the Board of Economic Warfare was established last December to deal with matters concerning our policy of financial assistance to our Allies. Britain’s gold and dollar balances are rising and Lend-Lease Administration is very eager for political reasons to have the British agree to the extension of the reciprocal lend-lease program to cover purchases of certain goods being made by the United States in British Empire countries. After considering the matter from all angles, the Indepartmental Committee decided to explore the possibility of reducing Britain’s current dollar receipts during the coming year by $200–$300 million through this procedure. On May 27 we wrote a letter to Sir Frederick Phillips85 advising him of the Committee’s decision and asking him for his views on the subject.
Phillips had informed us prior to his departure for London that Halifax had received a memorandum from London which he would submit to the appropriate Government official upon his return from the Mid-West. Halifax, however, says that Phillips is taking up this matter in London and that he, Halifax, has received a cable to the effect that you or Harriman are to talk to Sir Kingsley Wood about it. I should appreciate anything you can do to speed the British reply.