244. Editorial Note
On March 5, Arthur S. Flemming sent a letter to United States importers of crude oil stating that when the Suez crisis had ended, his office would have another look at the country’s crude oil imports picture in order to determine if the national security was substantially impaired by such imports. The letter asked each importing company to submit an estimate of its imports planned for the 6-month period immediately following the reopening of the Suez Canal or the Iraq Petroleum Company pipeline, or both. On the basis of these estimates, the Office of Defense Mobilization would determine whether the projected volume of imports into United States Districts I–IV in the immediate post-Suez period would be in line with permissible 1954 rations. If not, the office would request revised estimates from the companies in an attempt to determine whether Section 7 of the Trade Agreements Act should be applied to limit imports. The letter also stated that in determining any action which might be taken to limit oil imports into the United States, due consideration would be given to using normal import patterns as a base period rather than emergency diversions. (Department of State, Central Files, 411.006/3–857)