835.852/4–1847
Memorandum by the Director of the Division of Transportation and Communications (Radius) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation and Communications (Norton)
My conversation with Truitt76 did not alter the picture in any material way. As I see it, Truitt’s basic complaint is against the Maritime Commission for preventing the sale of flattops foreign. While he has some legal points which indicate the Maritime Commission is using questionable technicalities to achieve its objective of not selling any flattops abroad, I do not feel that there is a case for discrimination against Argentina on the matter of sale of flattops. It is true that the Commission’s policy contains many inconsistencies and is not [Page 266] very logical, nevertheless, since it does apply equally to all countries with respect to this type of ship, it cannot be held to be discriminatory.
There is in course of preparation an analysis of the whole problem of Argentine shipping discriminations and its relationship to ship sales in order to bring to a focus the Department’s policy line on this. We should be ready to discuss this with you shortly.
ARA is up to date on this and I assume they are keeping Mr. Braden77 informed as they feel necessary.