740.00119 EW/10–1548
The Under Secretary of State (Lovett) to the President of the Inter-Allied Reparation Agency (Rueff)
My Dear M. Rueff : I should like to acknowledge receipt of your letter of October 14, 1948,1 and to reply for my Government to the matter to which it refers.
On behalf of the Assembly of the IARA you express its concern that the action of the U.S. Zone Commander in suspending the delivery of certain plants which had been allocated to Member Governments of IARA might impair rights of Member Governments of the Agency deriving from the Paris Agreement on Reparation.
You will no doubt have been informed by representatives of the Member Governments to which the plants in question were allocated that the delivery of these plants has been resumed, with the expectation that it will be promptly completed. Nevertheless, in view of the concern which you express on behalf of the Assembly I feel that I should make clear the position of the United States Government in this matter.
The action of the U.S. Zone Commander in suspending delivery of the plants in question was a temporary one, taken in connection with this Government’s consideration of whether to undertake appropriate negotiations with the countries concerned for the retention in Germany of any of the equipment involved. This consideration, as indicated above, resulted in a negative decision. As the United States Delegate to IARA stated in the Assembly at the time this matter was under discussion, if the decision had been to seek the retention of any of this equipment in Germany, the United States Government had no intention to impose a unilateral decision on either the recipient countries or the IARA Assembly. It is considered that the rights of all Member Governments and of the Assembly under the Paris Agreement on Reparations would have been fully safeguarded.
I hope that the foregoing statement will adequately explain the position of the Government of the United States with respect to this matter, and I request that you promptly communicate it to the Member Governments of the Inter Allied Reparation Agency through their representatives in the Assembly.
Sincerely yours,