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800.8830/2303

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Bonsal) to the Adviser on Political Relations (Duggan)

[Washington,] February 15, 1943.

Mr. Duggan: I refer to your memorandum of February 12 to Mr. Corbett regarding the proposed newsprint–fresh fruit deal with Argentina.64 I had lunch last week with Garcia Arias.65 He expressed [Page 406] the opinion that our attempt to link newsprint with the fresh fruit was a mistake in that it would give nationalist elements in Argentina another weapon with which to fight us. His argument was that, while we were perfectly justified in determining what goods should be imported into the United States, it was almost an invasion of sovereignty for us to endeavor to use our decisions in this respect to secure the admission into Argentina of certain other goods. I said that our whole proposal seemed to me a thoroughly logical one and that opposition thereto would necessitate the assumption by the Argentine Government of a position to the effect that it did not wish newsprint imported into Argentina.

Philip W. Bonsal
  1. Memorandum not found in Department files. In a memorandum of the same date to Gray (presumably Cecil Wayne Gray) Duggan expressed his opposition to tying together the newsprint export and the fruit import matters (611.356/210).↩
  2. Rodolfo Garcia Arias, Argentine Minister in the United States.↩