Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Korea and China, Volume VII, Part 2

S/S Files: Lot 63 D 351: NSC 104 Series

Memorandum by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (Marshall)¹

secret

Washington, 10 April 1951.

Subject: U.S. Policies and Programs in the Economic Field Which May Affect the War Potential of the Soviet Bloc

1. With reference to your memorandum dated 5 April 1951,² above subject, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from the military point of view, have no objection to those United States policies which are proposed in NSC 104/2. They note the omission of any reference to Hong Kong and Macao in this paper but understand that the problem of those two localities is being handled as a separate study. The Joint Chiefs of Staff believe that that study should recommend that the interim policy of the Department of Commerce for processing export licenses and application for Hong Kong and Macao be approved without substantive modification as United States policy.

2. The Joint Chiefs of Staff urge that the policies in NSC 104/2 be applied stringently and that new methods be sought to curtail exports to the Soviet bloc.

For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

Omar N. Bradley

Chairman
Joint Chiefs of Staff

1. Executive Secretary Lay, at the request of the Secretary of Defense, circulated this memorandum under a covering memorandum of April 10 to the National Security Council for information in connection with Council consideration of NSC 104/2 at its meeting on April 11.
2. Not printed.