Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Western Europe, Volume III

840.50 Recovery/6–2648: Telegram

The United States Special Representative in Europe (Harriman) to the Secretary of State

confidential
us urgent
niact

Paris, [June 26, 1948.]
Received June 26, 1948—8:02 p. m.

Toeca 203. Personal for Marshall and Hoffman. As follow-up my Toeca 193,¹ below are points considered desirable here to counter European public misconceptions to include in statement to be issued when bilateral agreements are signed, and for your consideration in future statements.

1. With signing of agreements, task of making ERP successful shifts to Europe. Agreements permit America to add the critical 5% to Europe’s resources, but therefore follows that the 95% is Europe’s job. Accomplishment of ERP possible only if Europe increases production and productivity of farms, management and labor.

2. Nothing in agreements incompatible with national sovereignty of participators. On the contrary, agreements simply spell out a partnership program making joint European-American teamwork feasible for common objective.

3. No imposition on participators of American economic systems, much less American domination. Instead, agreements contain provisions contributing to freer trade throughout Europe and with rest of world, helping to establish same broad expanding trade area in Europe which United States has found so productive within its boundaries, enabling us to hit such high production that we now in position to share our goods with Europe.

4. Far from planning to dump surpluses on Europe, greatest part of ERP goods are those in short supply and are sent at real sacrifice to our economy and our people.

5. Terminal point at end of four years, by which time participating nations expected to be self-supporting, free from need of unusual outside assistance and economically independent. And we on our part then want to go home about our business.

6. America’s objectives are the same as those of European participators. We contributing aid needed to permit them to reestablish sound economies, including essential elements of finance, production and trade so that their free institutions, fortified by healthy economic base, can withstand all challenge. With Europe’s democratic institutions secured our own are thereby strengthened.

Harriman

1. June 25: it stated Harrimnn’s view that the statement to be issued at the igning of bilateral agreements would be received “only indifferently” and would probably be ineffective. He asked if it were too late to revise it “to sound a ringing note” since the statement gave a “golden opportunity to clarify American motives” and to “alleviate fears and antagonisms created in important participating countries through distortion and misconceptions in press … about contents of bilateral agreements and US objectives.”