832.61311/3–2546
The Department of State to the Brazilian Embassy
Memorandum
With reference to the Aide-Mémoire left by the Ambassador of Brazil with the Assistant Secretary of State on March 25,9 in which the Brazilian Government requests the consent of the United States Government to the release of certain quantities of crude rubber in Santos and the State of Para to be used by Brazil as the basis for a trade with Argentina for wheat, the Ambassador is informed as follows:
The Combined Rubber Committee early in the first quarter of 1946 allocated to Argentina, subject to Brazil’s concurrence under the Tripartite Agreement, 578 long tons of natural rubber from the United States and 150 tons of butyl rubber from Canada for that quarter.
The United States Embassy in Rio de Janeiro was instructed on March 1910 to approach the Brazilian Government for its concurrence in a joint Brazil-United States proposal to Argentina that if Argentina would take effective measures at once to make wheat available for shipment to fulfill its present commitments and to meet the requirements of countries whose supply it regards as its primary responsibility, the United States and Brazil would agree to the shipment of the aforementioned first quarter allocation of rubber and the former would introduce and support in the Combined Rubber Committee a second quarter allocation for Argentina of 1250 tons of natural rubber.
The prompt obtaining of wheat for Brazil is a primary objective of the proposal outlined in the preceding paragraph. If agreed to by Brazil and accepted by Argentina this proposal should accomplish the purpose sought in the Embassy’s Aide-Mémoire under reference and relieve the serious food crisis in Brazil.