560.AL/11–946
Memorandum by the Department of State to President Truman 95
On September 11, 1945, the Acting Secretary of State submitted to you the United States Proposals for Expansion of World Trade and Employment, together with a memorandum summarizing the trade program which these Proposals envisaged and the main obligations which they would involve for the United States.
This memorandum stated in part:
“The tariff provisions (of the Proposals) would involve at an early stage the broad and substantial use of the authority under the Trade Agreements Act. The specific tariff concessions which we would offer to other countries would, of course, be submitted to you for prior consideration and would be subject to appropriate safeguarding provisions.”
You approved the memorandum.
On December 6, 1945, these Proposals, somewhat revised after consultation with the British, were published for the consideration of the world, and the United States invited fifteen nations, accounting for over two-thirds of our trade, to negotiate trade agreements. Three [Page 1353] smaller countries have since been added. The negotiations are to begin in April 1947.
In accordance with the procedures which have been followed for the twelve years of the administration of the Trade Agreements Act, a list will be published setting forth the items on which tariff concessions will be considered by the United States in these trade-agreement negotiations. Public hearings will be held on this list which has now been completed (subject to such minor modification in form as the lawyers may advise) by the Interdepartmental Trade Agreements Committee. A copy of the list is attached for your approval.96
Because of the number of countries involved, and their importance in our trade, the list is extensive. It also includes certain items, such as wool, butter, meat, pottery, woolen and cotton textiles, sugar, copper, glassware and shoes, which are of great concern to important and highly vocal domestic interests, but consideration of each of which is essential in order even to initiate negotiations with one or more of the countries involved.
Inclusion of an item in this list does not necessarily mean that a concession will be granted on that item. That decision will depend on what develops in the public hearings and whether adequate concessions can be obtained from other countries in return.
Before any concessions are actually offered or granted, they will be submitted to you for approval.
We are seeking heavy commitments from other countries with respect to their use of quantitative restrictions, exchange controls, preferences and other discriminations which have operated to the detriment of the United States. We are asking them for tariff concessions on a very wide range of our export items which, if granted, would have great value for American exports and the American economy generally. This is particularly important in view of the prospect of large surpluses of many of our important agricultural products and the fact that heavy industries essential to our national security have been greatly expanded during the war and will require export markets. If we are to achieve these important objectives for the United States, we must be prepared to make tariff concessions which are substantial in extent and cover a wide range of items.
The list attached has been developed in accordance with established trade-agreement procedure. Because of the wide scope of the negotiations, a special effort has been made to present it in a form which [Page 1354] can be most easily used and understood by the American interests concerned.
This list is an essential basis for the forthcoming negotiations. These negotiations must succeed, or the whole program for international economic cooperation will collapse.
If you approve, this list will be made public on or about November 8, 1946.97
In view of the significance of these negotiations, it would be highly desirable if, when the list is issued, you could make a brief statement emphasizing the importance of the negotiations and their relationship to the other parts of this country’s economic program. A suggested statement98 is attached for your approval.
- Although the memorandum, which is undated, carries the notation “Approved Nov. 9, ’46, Harry S. Truman”, the President had signified his approval, apparently orally, by November 5; see footnote 97, p. 1354.↩
- Not attached to file copy. The list is printed in Department of State publication 2672, Commercial Policy Series 96. Reference should be made also to Schedule A—Statistical Classification of Imports Into the United States, U.S. Department of Commerce, September 1, 1946.↩
- The Department on November 5 informed Mr. Clair Wilcox, Chairman of the United States Delegation to the London Preparatory Committee meeting, that “President has approved statement which will be issued with list for release Sunday papers Nov. 10. …” (telegram 7554, to London, November 5, 6 p.m., (560.AL/11–546)). This was confirmed in a “Memorandum for Files” made by the Acting Secretary of State on November 6, not printed. The U.S. missions accredited to the other 18 “nuclear” governments had been briefed on the projected schedule and texts in a circular telegram of November 7, 5 p.m., not printed.↩
- For the Statement by the President, released to the press by the White House on November 9, see Department of State Bulletin, November 17, 1940, p. 909. For related statements and information released at the same time, see ibid., pp. 907–910.↩