Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

IO Files: SD/A/C.5/142

Department of State Position Paper, for the Instruction of the United States Delegation to the General Assembly

confidential

[Washington,] September 1, 1950.

Report of the Committee on Contributions

the problem

The United Nations Committee on Contributions has recommended a number of changes in the United Nations scale of contributions for 1951, including a reduction in the United States share from 39.79 to 38.92 percent.

recommendations

The Delegation should support adoption of the Committee Report. In doing so it should

(1) Note that this is a step towards reducing the United States share to 33⅓ percent, as envisaged by General Assembly resolution 238 A (III);

(2) Congratulate the Committee upon recognizing changed economic conditions and making some changes in the assessments of many countries;

(3) Urge that the Committee continue next year its analysis of changed economic conditions, and request that the Assembly again urge all Members to provide additional statistical information to assist the Committee in its task;

(4) Point out that the United States will continue to press for a more rapid reduction of its share to 33⅓ percent, believing that improvement in economic conditions generally will justify such a full reduction in the immediate future.

comment

From the First Session of the General Assembly the United States has affirmed and reaffirmed its position that no Member should pay more than one third of the regular expenses of the United Nations. The General Assembly, at its Third Session, recognized in the preamble of Resolution 238 A (III) “that in normal times no one Member State should contribute more than one third of the ordinary expenses of the United Nations for any one year.” A first step in implementing this principle was taken by the Fourth Session of the General Assembly, which reduced the United States share by one-tenth of one percent. The United States supported this action, while expressing dissatisfaction with the small size of the reduction, and announced its intention to continue to press for reduction of the United States share toward a goal of 33⅓ percent.

This year the Committee states that it understands that it is directed to take a further step in implementation of Resolution 238 A (III), and is recommending a reduction in the United States contribution of 0.87 percent, at the same time raising the percentage shares of fourteen other Members, including the USSR and its four satellite Members. The Committee justifies this latter action on the basis of a certain recovery since 1946 from the temporary dislocation of national economies arising out of the Second World War.

The United States desired a larger percentage reduction in its contribution, but in view of the present political situation, the reduction is as large as could be expected. The Committee, in this as in previous years, has agreed that no change either upwards or downwards should be more than 10 percent in any one year. The contributions of the USSR and its satellites, from which the bulk of any relief to the United States can be expected to come, as long as the membership is not enlarged, were all raised 10 percent by the Committee. As a matter of fact, the increase in their percentages totals 0.93, just slightly more than the decrease in the United States percentage. It has been the opinion of the United States, borne out by the limited statistical information available, that the USSR and its satellites have been grossly underassessed. The Committee report details other changes in the scale, all being quite small.

The Delegation might, if the circumstances are favorable, point out that it assumes that the Committee’s “unwritten rule” to the effect that no Member’s contribution should be changed more than 10 percent in any one year does not necessarily have application in the future, in view of the fact that such a rule is not implied in the Committee’s terms of reference and the claims of economic advancement made by some Members are such that their assessments, to reflect such advancement, might be increased to a greater degree. It also might state that it assumes that the Committee’s statement that the largest contributor will not in the future automatically receive the benefit of revisions in other Member’s contributions does not imply that further steps to reduce the United States contribution to 33⅓ percent will not be taken.