Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume V, Soviet Union

37. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Kennedy⁰

Washington, February 26, 1961.

SUBJECT

• Soviet Crab Meat

You will recall our discussion on February 21, concerning the prohibition against the importation of Soviet crab meat.¹ It is my recommendation that the ban against imported Soviet crab meat be lifted, and I am advised that Mr. Dillon concurs in this recommendation.

We believe that it is of great importance at this juncture to take some action which would further our objectives of developing the channels of communication with the Soviets. Removal of the ban on the importation of Soviet crab meat would be a tangible demonstration of our desire to improve United States-Soviet relations. It would remove a barrier to United States-Soviet trade which Soviet leaders apparently regard as particularly discriminatory and which was imposed at a time of considerable political tension.

The ban on the importation of Soviet crab meat was imposed at the time of the Korean War in 1951 by the Department of the Treasury in conformity with the provisions of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, on the basis of its finding that Soviet crab meat was produced by convict, forced and indentured labor. The finding was based on eye-witness affidavits, mostly from former Japanese prisoners of war, regarding the employment in Soviet crab meat canning and crab fishing of Japanese prisoners of war, Japanese civilians trapped in areas occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II, Korean civilians, and Russian convict labor.

In the last few years various Soviet officials have denied that slave or convict labor conditions exist in the Soviet crab meat industry. These include Soviet Deputy Premier Mikoyan and Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Kuzmin. Other information which has come to the attention of the Departments of State and Treasury bears this out. In the Departmentʼs opinion these statements should be sufficient, in the absence of any recent evidence to the contrary, to justify a lifting of the crab meat prohibition. It is our understanding that the Department of the Treasury is also convinced of the justification for removing the prohibition.

Under these circumstances, I am convinced that a lifting of the crab meat ban at this time would be in the national interest.

Dean Rusk²

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 411.616/2-2661. Confidential. No drafting information appears on the source text.
1. Presumably at the meeting during which the Presidentʼs February 22 message to Khrushchev was drafted; see Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, vol. VI, pp. 5–6.
2. Printed from a copy that bears this stamped signature.