80. Editorial Note
On October 18, 1971, Peter G. Peterson sent CIEP Study Memorandum 14 to the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Labor; the Attorney General; the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs; the CEA Chairman; the OMB Director; the President’s Assistant for Domestic Affairs; and the Federal Reserve Chairman informing them the President had requested a comprehensive study of the issues involved in inward and outward international direct investment, and recommendations for U.S. policy. Peterson noted that Secretary Connally had made Wilson Schmidt available to chair a special, interagency task force to work on the issue. (Department of State, S/S Files: Lot 82 D 126, Box, 5195, CIEP Study Memoranda)
The Task Force’s first order of business was to “identify those issues or questions which require further study or more sharply focused responses.” Peterson suggested four major topics: A. Trade and Investment in the U.S. Balance of Payments; B. Multinational Corporations; C. Investment Issues in Foreign Relations; and D. Foreign Investment and the U.S. Economy. The Chairman was to issue biweekly progress reports and the final Task Force report was due on December 15, 1971.
Foreign direct investment had a central role in the Nixon administration’s foreign assistance/economic development policy and an Expropriation Policy Statement was issued in January 1972, but no evidence of comprehensive work on foreign direct investment issues as envisaged in CIEPSM 14 was found. For documentation, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume IV.