Office of the Historian

211. National Security Study Memorandum 1491

Washington, March 10, 1972.

TO

  • The Secretary of State
  • The Secretary of Treasury
  • The Secretary of Defense
  • The Secretary of Agriculture
  • The Secretary of Commerce
  • The Director of Central Intelligence

SUBJECT

  • US–PRC Trade

The President has directed a study of ways in which the statement on trade in the Joint US–PRC Communiqué of February 28, 1972 should be implemented.

The study should address PRC attitudes and practices in conducting trade with other countries, with special emphasis on countries with which the PRC does not have diplomatic relations, and past trading patterns and specific commodities which have constituted the principal imports and exports of the PRC. The study should also examine the political aspects of PRC trade arrangements.

Consideration of the following means of facilitating trade should be included:

  • —Ways in which the US Government can begin and facilitate an exchange of general trade information and data between the US and the PRC. The possible uses of our third-country contact in this effort should be examined.
  • —Measures which the US Government can take to facilitate contacts between exporters and importers on both sides. This should include an examination of the role which should be played by the US Government and how it should relate to US private individuals and corporations.
  • —Effects on US–PRC trade of the China COCOM differential.
  • —The effect of non-tariff and tariff barriers and the claims settlement problem on US–PRC trade.
  • —Additional issues including the establishment of trade centers, the exchange of trade delegations, additional means of contact, and other measures to facilitate trade.

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This study should be conducted by an ad hoc group chaired by the State Department and including representatives of the addressees and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The study should be submitted to the CIEP Review Group and the Senior Review Group by March 24, 1972.

Henry A. Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–189, NSSM Files, NSSM 149. Secret. Also issued as Council on International Economic Policy Study Memorandum 21.↩