Office of the Historian

302. Letter From President Ford to West German Chancellor Schmidt1

Washington, August 30, 1976.
Dear Mr. Chancellor:

Thank you for your letter of July 29 concerning our discussions on defense issues during your recent visit. I wish to confirm your understanding that the traditional balance of payments offset arrangements, typified by those implemented between 1961 and 1975 pursuant to the NATO Resolutions of July 26, 1957, are no longer relevant.

I note with pleasure your expectation that military procurement by the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic in the United States, which has formed the basic element of such agreements, can be expected to continue as in the past.

I confirm with you the importance which both our governments attach to the transfer of a United States combat brigade to North Germany, and I welcome your offer to contribute an amount of DM 171.2 million toward the costs of the brigade’s initial relocation. Continuing stationing costs are, of course, under the Status of Forces Agreement and the supplementary agreement thereto, the responsibility of the stationing power.

Finally, I also confirm our understanding that your government does not rule out the possibility of contributions being considered in future exceptional cases which lie in the interests of collective defense.

With kind regards.

Sincerely,

Gerald R. Ford

  1. Summary: Ford replied to Schmidt’s July 29 letter on U.S.–FRG bilateral offset and NORTHAG.

    Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office Files, Box 35, West Germany (7) (7/16/76–11/23/76). Secret. In a July 29 letter to Ford, Schmidt noted that Kissinger and Scheel had recently agreed that the traditional U.S.–FRG offset arrangement was “no longer applicable in view of significant improvements in the fields of international monetary and economic policy.” Nevertheless, Schmidt continued, FRG military procurement in the U.S. “can be expected to continue as in the past.” Schmidt also said that while the FRG would pay DM 171.2 million towards the military accommodation of the NORTHAG brigade, this did not commit the FRG to pay brigade stationing costs, which were the responsibility of the U.S. Schmidt concluded by noting that the FRG would not rule out consideration of contributions “in future exceptional cases which lie in the interests of collective defense.” (Ibid.)

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