Editorial Note
On August 27 representatives of the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada began technical discussions at Washington in preparation for the ministerial talks in September. These sessions, chaired by Under Secretary Webb, were designated as meetings of the Combined Official Committee. In the course of its activity the Combined Official Committee established five subcommittees to report on the economic statistics of the British financial crisis, customs procedures, the possibility of substituting nondollar for dollar sources of United Kingdom imports, the competitive position of British exports, and tin, rubber, and stockpiling programs. The Committee met five times, with [Page 822] the representatives of each country reporting to their principals before suspending deliberations to allow the preparation of reports for the Foreign Ministers.
The minutes of the five meetings, documents submitted to the Committee, and the five subcommittee reports are in CFM Files, Lot M–88, Box 143, Com/Official.