Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
Memorandum of Discussion at the 191st Meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday, April 1, 19541
eyes only
The following were present at the 191st meeting of the Council: The President of the United States, presiding; the Vice President of the United States; the Secretary of State; the Secretary of Defense; the Director, Foreign Operations Administration; and the Director, [Page 1144] Office of Defense Mobilization. Also present were the Secretary of the Treasury; the Acting Secretary of Agriculture (for Item 1); Mr. Anderson for the Secretary of Commerce (for Items 1 and 6); the Acting Director, Bureau of the Budget; the Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers (for Item 1); the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Mr. Davis, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture (for Items 1 and 6); Mr. Clarence Francis, Special Consultant to the President (for Item 1); Lieut. Everhart, USNR, Department of Defense (for Item 4); the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Acting Director of Central Intelligence; the Assistant to the President; Mr. Cutler, Special Assistant to the President; the Deputy Assistant to the President; the Acting White House Staff Secretary; Mr. Harlow, Administrative Assistant to the President; the Executive Secretary, NSC; and the Deputy Executive Secretary, NSC.
There follows a summary of the discussion at the meeting, together with the chief points taken.
[Here follows discussion of the disposal abroad of government-owned agricultural surpluses.]
2. US–UK–France Consultation on East-West Trade (NSC Action No. 1063)2
Mr. Cutler called on Governor Stassen to report briefly to the Council on his trip to London in the interests of reaching agreement with the United Kingdom and France on relaxation of controls on East-West trade.
Governor Stassen said that thanks to the intervention of Sir Winston Churchill and Mr. Eden, his negotiations with the British and French had reached a satisfactory conclusion. The British had reversed their decision calling for an abrupt and drastic decrease of controls, and instead had agreed to our proposal for a rapid and orderly review of the items contained on the International Lists. Governor Stassen cautioned that we should not underestimate the problem facing the British Government with respect to East-West trade. The British Government was confronted on the one hand with demands from the Laborites, who were “soft” on Russia, and on the other with demands from Conservative businessmen who for quite opposite reasons were anxious to extend trade with the Soviet bloc. Accordingly, in carrying out the agreement reached at London for an itemized review of the International Lists, Governor Stassen warned that the United States would have to yield to the British and French and remove the less strategic items from the Lists. On the other hand, if we made this concession the British [Page 1145] and French would in turn agree to tightening controls on the strategic items which continued to be listed.
The President commented that we had better make up our minds to be pretty generous and go along as far as possible with British requests for relaxation of controls on some items.
Secretary Anderson predicted that if the list came out very much shorter than in its present form, we should anticipate pressures from American businessmen for parallel action on relaxing U.S. controls on East-West trade.
Governor Stassen agreed with Secretary Anderson’s prediction, but pointed out that there had been no sentiment in London for a relaxation of existing controls on trade with Communist China and North Korea, at least pending a settlement.
Secretary Wilson commented that he would assume that we would not insist upon stricter standards for American businessmen than the British and French for their traders.
The National Security Council:
Noted an oral report by the Director, Foreign Operations Administration, on his consultations with the British and French Governments regarding East-West trade, and agreed as to the necessity for the United States to accept relaxation of controls on less strategic items in the review of the International, and subsequently the United States, Lists.
[Here follows discussion of current national security policies, significant world developments affecting United States security, the United States position with respect to Germany, United States policy toward the Philippines, and the congressional presentation of the Foreign Operations Administration.]