International Trade Files, Lot 57D284, Box 1622
Department of State Press Release, January 1, 1950
Calendar of Trade Agreements
Countries which are contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade concluded at Geneva, Switzerland, in 19473 are indicated below by asterisks. Those contracting parties with which the United States had concluded bilateral trade agreements before the negotiation of the General Agreement are indicated by double asterisks and the present status of the earlier agreements is shown in the list on the following page.
At Annecy, France, in 1949 the United States and other contracting parties to the General Agreement negotiated with 10 other countries for accession of the latter to the agreement. These new acceding countries are: Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Greece, Haiti, Italy, Liberia, Nicaragua, Sweden, and Uruguay. Of these only Haiti has completed the necessary steps in order to accede to the agreement and United States concessions initially negotiated with that country will become effective on January 1, 1950. The other acceding countries have until April 30, 1950, to take similar action. The United States will not give effect to the concessions initially negotiated with these countries until such action is taken.
[Page 693]The United States signed a trade agreement with Colombia on September 13, 1935. This agreement went into effect on May 20, 1936 and by joint agreement between the two countries was terminated as of December 1, 1949.
| Country | Date concluded | Date effective |
| Argentina | Oct. 14, 1941 | Nov. 15, 1941 |
| Australia* | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Belgium** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Brazil** | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 31, 1948 |
| Burma* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 30, 1948 |
| Canada** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Ceylon* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 30, 1948 |
| Chile* | Oct. 30, 1947 | Mar. 16, 1949 |
| China* | Oct. 30, 1947 | May 22, 1948 |
| Costa Rica | Nov. 28, 1936 | Aug. 2, 1937 |
| Cuba** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Czechoslovakia** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Apr. 21, 1948 |
| Ecuador | Aug. 6, 1938 | Oct. 23, 1938 |
| El Salvador | Feb. 19.1937 | May 31, 1937 |
| Finland | May 18, 1936 | Nov. 2, 1936 |
| France** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Guatemala | Apr. 24, 1936 | June 15, 1936 |
| Haiti** | Oct. 10, 1949 | Jan. 1, 1950 |
| Honduras | Dec. 18, 1935 | Mar. 2, 1936 |
| Iceland | Aug. 27, 1943 | Nov. 19, 1943 |
| India* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 9, 1948 |
| Iran | Apr. 8, 1943 | June 28, 1944 |
| Lebanon* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 30, 1948 |
| Luxembourg** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Mexico | Dec. 23, 1942 | Jan. 30, 1943 |
| Netherlands** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| New Zealand* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 31, 1948 |
| Nicaragua† | Mar. 11, 1936 | Oct. 1, 1936 |
| Norway* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 11, 1948 |
| Pakistan* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 31, 1948 |
| Paraguay | Sept. 12, 1946 | Apr. 9, 1947 |
| Peru | May 7, 1942 | July 29, 1942 |
| Southern Rhodesia* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 12, 1948 |
| Sweden | May 25, 1935 | Aug. 5, 1935 |
| Switzerland | Jan. 9, 1936 | Feb. 15, 1936 |
| Syria* | Oct. 30, 1947 | July 31, 1948 |
| Turkey | Apr. 1, 1939 | May 5, 1939 |
| Union of South Africa* | Oct. 30, 1947 | June 14, 1948 |
| United Kingdom** | Oct. 30, 1947 | Jan. 1, 1948 |
| Uruguay | July 21, 1942 | Jan. 1, 1943 |
| Venezuela | Nov. 6, 1939 | Dec. 16, 1939 |
Countries with which the United States had concluded bilateral trade agreements previously to their becoming contracting parties to the General Agreement, and the present status of these previous agreements, are as follows:
| Country | Signed | Effective | Present status |
| Belgium | Feb. 27, 1935 | May 1, 1935 | Inoperative |
| Brazil | Feb. 2, 1935 | Jan. 1, 1936 | Inoperative |
| Canada (1st agreement) | Nov. 15, 1935 | Jan. 1, 1936 | Superseded |
| “ (2nd agreement) | Nov. 17, 1938 | Jan. 1, 1939 | Inoperative |
| “ (1st fox fur) | Dec. 30, 1939 | Jan. 1, 1940 | Superseded |
| “ (2nd fox fur) | Dec. 13, 1940 | Dec. 20, 1940 | Terminated |
| Cuba | Aug. 24, 1934 | Sept. 3, 1934 | Inoperative |
| “ (1st supplementary) | Dec. 18, 1939 | Dec. 23, 1939 | Inoperative |
| “ (2nd supplementary) | Dec. 23, 1941 | Jan. 5, 1942 | Inoperative |
| Czechoslovakia | Mar. 7, 1938 | Apr. 16, 1938 | Terminated |
| France | May 6, 1936 | June 15, 1936 | Inoperative |
| Haiti | Mar. 28, 1935 | June 3, 1935 | Superseded |
| Luxemburg | Feb. 27, 1935 | May 1, 1935 | Inoperative |
| Netherlands | Dec. 20, 1935 | Feb. 1, 1936 | Inoperative |
| United Kingdom | Nov. 17, 1938 | Jan. 1, 1939 | Inoperative |
- Comprehensive collection of files on commercial trade policy, the question of an international trade organization, and the negotiation, conclusion, and operation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), as assembled and maintained in various economic offices of the Department of State principally during the years 1934–1951.↩
- For the text of the Protocol of Provisional Application of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, concluded at Geneva, Switzerland on October 30, 1947, see Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 1700 or 61 Stat. (pts. 5 and 6). For documentation on the Geneva negotiations leading to the conclusion of the General Agreement, see Foreign Relations, 1947, vol. i, pp. 909 ff. For bibliographic and historical information regarding GATT, see ibid., 1949, vol. i, p. 651, footnote 2.↩
- The duty concessions and certain other provisions of this agreement ceased to be in force as of March 10, 1938. [Footnote in the source text.]↩