43. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State0
2146. Trade. I told Khrushchev we have been reviewing restrictions on import of Soviet crabmeat and hoped be able lift them. I said I realized this would be small step but I believed it was in right direction. I said we did not want to say anything publicly for present.1 To my surprise Khrushchev displayed considerable satisfaction and agreed this would be good move. He said we must normalize our relations and that it is difficult to explain why USSR has little commerce with US when it trades with other Western powers. He brought up recent cancellation of grinding machines and said USSR can fly its rockets without US machines. (On return trip Dobrynin told me Hammer2 had told Khrushchev they would soon receive good news about an export license without specifying what it was for. Soviets had assumed it was for grinding machines and had therefore been particularly surprised at cancellation.) I gave Khrushchev confidential explanation this transaction and little lecture on how American Govt operates. I told him I had discussed with Secretary Hodges importance of maintaining license once it had been issued and that he had agreed this was important.
Khrushchev expressed opinion that small minority in US is blinded by hatred for USSR and expressed regret because their attitude does not create conditions for trust. He also raised question of purchase of urea factories and said if US would sell them USSR ready to buy them. He said USSR had already purchased three from Netherlands. He saidUSSR had lived 200 years without such factories and could live a few years more. Later at luncheon he said USSR does not compete with US in trade field and could be very good consumer of its goods. If we had different trade relations, he said, they would not have been developing some branches of their industry and instead would be buying from us.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 411.6141/3-1061. Confidential; Priority; Limit Distribution.↩
- On March 20 the Department of the Treasury announced that it was lifting the ban on the importation of Soviet crab meat.↩
- See Document 32.↩