FW 825.6374/11–1846
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr, Alexander Schnee of the Division of North and West Coast Affairs
| Participants: | CP—Mr. Turkel |
| Mr. Gray | |
| Mr. Irvine | |
| IR—Mr. Pauley | |
| A–Br—Mr. Smith | |
| NWC—Mr. Schnee |
It was the unanimous opinion of all the officers at the meeting that the Department’s reply to the Chilean Note of November 1866 should be in the form of a brief reaffirmation of the position taken by the Department in its Note of September 10 (denying that the plants were disposed of on terms which constitute a subsidy).
All present agreed that the United States had lived up to the spirit of its commitments under the terms of the Mexico City letter, although we were lax in not having undertaken discussions with the Chileans before the disposal of any of the plants. It was further agreed that a decision to terminate these negotiations with a brief reaffirmation of our position would be in accordance with the understanding of our commitments as outlined to the Chilean Ambassador by the Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at an early meeting on this subject.
A brief reply is suggested in order that the Chileans may be disuaded from continuing the discussions which have thus far afforded them an excellent opportunity of gleaning information which would not otherwise be available about some of their post-war competitors. Mr. Pauley of IR is drafting a reply.67