241. Letter From President Johnson to the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations (Herter)1
Dear Governor Herter:
As you know, the Urban Mass Transportation Act,2 which I have just signed into law, was amended to require that contractors employed with funds made available under the Act “shall use only such manufactured articles as have been manufactured in the United States.” I regret that this objectionable provision was included in the Act. This provision goes well beyond the Buy American Act3 and is incompatible with the trade policy we are pursuing under the Trade Expansion Act.
[Page 646]I hope that this provision will be repealed in the near future, and that similar provisions will not be adopted in the future. Furthermore, I hope it will be understood by all of our trading partners that the adoption of this provision does not reflect any change in the policies and purposes of this Administration.
Sincerely,
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Trade—General, vol. I [1 of 2], Box 47. No classification marking. This letter was requested in a July 9 memorandum from Acting Secretary of State Ball to President Johnson for use in discussions with other governments. (Ibid.) It was transmitted in Gatt 2015, July 16, to Geneva and eight other posts. This telegram also informed these posts that “Interested Washington embassies have been informed that Administration considers amendment incompatible with US trade policy and that it hopes it will be repealed in near future.” (Ibid.)↩
- P.L. 88–365, approved July 9; 78 Stat. 302.↩
- Chapter 212, Title III, approved March 3, 1933; 47 Stat. 1520.↩