Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, Europe, Volume IV

103.9169/2616: Telegram

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

London, February 26, 1944—8 p.m.
[Received February 26—6:49 p.m.]

1585. For Department, Stone, FEA, and Riefler. Secret report from Sweden leads to conclusion that preemption of ball bearings has been ineffective in preventing exports of small sizes to enemy as had been hoped. This report caused some concern in EOU⁴⁶ and 8th Air Force. However, EOU and ERD⁴⁷ of MEW now feel as a result of past weeks’ raids on Schweinfurt and other ball-bearing factories that it is no longer possible to ascribe particular importance to small types or any other specific types.

This changed situation was reviewed at a February 26 meeting of Foot,⁴⁸ Vickers⁴⁹ and representatives of Enemy Resources Department of MEW, as well as EWD,⁵⁰ including EOU. This meeting reached following conclusions:

We should now disregard specific types and have as our aim in Sweden prevention of any variation in German orders already placed, in view of raid disruption of German program on which they were based, and prevention of 1944 Swedish deliveries from being concentrated in earlier months of year.

It was agreed that we should henceforth press Swedes for following objectives:

1. Deliveries in 1944 within War Trade Agreement ceilings should be spaced as evenly as possible.

2. We should request information on Swedish export licenses as and when granted, as well as on actual orders placed or to be placed with SKF⁵¹ for ball and roller bearings, balls and rollers, races and ball and roller-bearing machinery and components.

3. Swedes should be pressed to prevent SKF from permitting variations in orders once placed, particularly following last Schweinfurt raids.

4. Subject to Supply Authorities Agreement, Swedes should be pressed to requisition ball and roller bearings, races, balls and rollers, during next few months even at expense of both belligerents if necessary.

5. We should ensure that provisions of Annex II of War Trade Agreement restrict export of bearing machinery and components. We should seek spacing of these also.

6. We should refuse to agree to Swedish request for amalgamating ceilings for tariff items 1527 and 1529.

Bearings should be first priority in our Swedish Economic Warfare program even if it were necessary to assure this at expense of our iron ore demands in view of time it takes to process latter and loss of Nikopol manganese for utilizing it.

It was also agreed that we should examine possibility of using Black List threats to prevent unneutral accommodation of German requirements growing directly out of air raids.

Winant

46. United States Enemy Objective Unit located in London.
47. Economic Resources Department.
48. Dingle M. Foot, Parliamentary Secretary, British Ministry of Economic Warfare.
49. Charles G. Vickers of the Ministry of Economic Warfare.
50. Economic Warfare Division of the American Embassy in the United Kingdom.
51. Svenska Kullagerfabriken Aktiebolaget is a major Swedish ball and roller bearing corporation with holdings in a number of countries; its main offices are located in Göteborg, Sweden.