Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Foreign Aid and Economic Defense Policy, Volume X

100. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State (Hoover) to the Secretary of State¹

Washington, March 1, 1956.

I understand that Selwyn Lloyd will undoubtedly question you in Karachi about when we will be prepared to negotiate on CHINCOM trade controls.²

Mr. Prochnow and I have discussed the matter with Mr. Dodge and we have come to the following conclusions:

1. The staff work and position papers will probably be ready to start negotiations by April 15.

2. The McClellan Committee has raised so much difficulty and public furor about our general COCOM and CHINCOM practices in the past, that it may not be possible from the point of view of public policy to undertake a further revision by the middle of April without serious political repercussions. The White House has requested Governor Stassen to testify on the COCOM negotiations of 1954 early next week. The outcome of his testimony will determine whether we can undertake negotiations with the British on CHINCOM without considerable jeopardy to the FY 1957 Foreign Aid Program.

H.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 493.009/3–156. Confidential.
2. Reference is to the Second Meeting of the Council of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, scheduled to meet at Karachi, March 6–8.