811.20 Defense (M)/11–2744
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to President Roosevelt
A Tripartite Committee of representatives of the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, to discuss the future of three of the Combined Boards has reached agreement on the enclosed drafts21 relating to the Combined Raw Materials Board, the Combined Production and Resources Board and the Combined Food Board. These papers are being transmitted to London and Ottawa with a recommendation that they be approved as drafted.
There is also enclosed a draft of a proposed joint press release21 that would be issued simultaneously by you and the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Canada, perhaps between December 15 and December 20.22 The exact time of the release would be fixed after receiving reports of approval by the respective governments. In each case, a request is being made for as prompt a reply as possible.
You may feel it unnecessary to read each memorandum in full. Their contents are interpreted for the public in the press release. Briefly, these Boards would continue until the end of the war with Germany or Japan, whichever is the longer. They would concern themselves in their administrative recommendations only with those essential commodities and products that are in short supply, or involve difficult transportation problems. The language of the memoranda seeks to secure against the use of the Boards for commercial or trade policy purposes, which could embarrass this Government in its relations with countries outside the Board machinery.