Office of the Historian

ECA Telegram Piles, Lot W–131, Paris Torep: Telegram

The Acting Administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration (Foster)1 to the Embassy in France

secret
priority
Washington, November 4, 1949—8 p. m.

Torep 9080. Reference Repto 7101.2

1. Concur Para 1 and Para 2 A. State and ECA have cabled instructions suggested Para 2 B for Belgium and Netherlands. Sending cables urging Norwegian and Danish participation today.

2. US group at Nov 14 meeting will include State and Commerce representatives as well as OSB. Disproportionately large US delegation should be avoided.

3. Re 2 D US position should be guided by position taken in interagency memorandum, approved by National Security Council May 31, which stated that ECA and State would place emphasis on obtaining maximum agreement by all participants to the list currently acceptable to UK, without foregoing continued and unremitting negotiation on remainder US I–A list.3 State and ECA further indicated that they would to the extent feasible encourage those countries which have agreed already to entire US I–A list to continue their full agreement and thus support negotiations; to obtain further agreement from other participants. Believe US should support Anglo-French list as a desirable step forward in developing a multilateral program for embargo security controls. However suggest you approach British to obtain agreement to inform other missions of outcome Anglo-American technical talks last July. Believe desirable that US and British should indicate need for technical discussions with other countries where desirable. Progress made in Anglo-US talks can be used as basis increased multilateral controls. Sending US views on items at issue in July technical talks early next week. Will also send latest US analysis Anglo-French list.4

4. Informal exploratory discussions suggested Para 4 undertaken this week by State Dept. Our comments will follow.

Foster
  1. On May 31, 1949, William C. Foster, until then Deputy Special Representative in Europe for the Economic Cooperation Administration, was named Deputy Administrator for the Economic Cooperation Administration. Milton Katz, General Counsel in the Office of the Special Representative in Europe for ECA, was named to succeed Foster as Deputy Representative.↩
  2. Dated October 28, p. 163.↩
  3. The reference here is presumably to the memorandum of May 31 from Secretary of Commerce Sawyer to NSC Executive Secretary Souers, not printed.↩
  4. Regarding the new Anglo-French list, see footnote 2 to telegram Repto 6884, October 15, from Paris, p. 151.↩