Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1925, Volume I

121.5751/–

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Herrick)

Washington, April 21, 1925.

No. 1475

Sir:

[Here follow, mutatis mutandis, the first five paragraphs of the instruction to Austria, printed supra. To the fifth paragraph of that instruction is added the following:] At the time that you make the above notification to the French Government, you are instructed to furnish to the Foreign Office a Memorandum containing the more comprehensive and detailed description of the activities of Customs Attachés that is contained in the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2, 1925, with reference to this subject.

At this time you will explain to the French Government that the procedure which is outlined in the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2 is the result of a painstaking effort on the part of the Treasury and of this Department to meet the views of the French Government, expressed in the note, dated May 26, 1924, addressed to the Department by the French Chargé d’Affaires at Washington,⁴⁵ a translation of which is transmitted herewith, and at the same time to carry out the mandatory provisions of the Tariff Act of 1922. You may express the hope that the full explanation of the American law and of the duties which the Customs Attachés are directed to perform under it, as well as the procedure established for these Attachés, in the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2, 1925, will remove any misunderstanding on the part of the French Government.

[The next three paragraphs, which have been omitted, are the same, mutatis mutandis, as the last three paragraphs of the instruction to Austria.]

Special reference is made to your despatch No. 5038, of April 2, 1925, transmitting a memorandum by a member of your staff outlining the French objections to the activities of Customs and Tariff Commission representatives, and recommending that Section 510 of the Tariff Act of 1922 be amended. With regard to your recommendation, it may be observed that the Congress will in all probability not be in session again until December. The Department understands, informally, from the Treasury that there is little practical probability of amendments to the Tariff Act being acted upon favorably by Congress in the near future.

The following brief comment is made upon the Memorandum transmitted with your despatch No. 5038.

(1) Is sufficiently covered in the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2, which points out that Customs Attachés make investigations only in connection with goods which have actually been entered at the American customs. Their activities are in no sense designed to elicit economic or other information which is not directly connected with the verification of valuations of dutiable goods which have been declared to the American Government.

(2) The infrequency and the purpose of the cost of production investigations made by Customs Attachés are fully explained in the Circular Instruction of April 2.

With reference to the question of principle raised in point three, your attention is drawn to the fact that this Government has not objected to investigations by Canadian Customs officers in the United States.

With regard to point four, the distinction between Customs Attachés and Tariff Commission representatives is clearly drawn in the Department’s circular instruction of April 2, and should be emphasized to the French Government.

With regard to Section II of the Memorandum, relating to the action proposed by France, it may be observed that the Treasury has ruled that affidavits and certificates by trade associations, etc., as to market value or cost of production do not satisfy the requirements of American law, and that, therefore, the Secretary of the Treasury has no legal authority to accept such substitutes for examination of records by accredited representatives of this Government.

In view of the interest that has been taken in this matter by the International Chamber of Commerce, it is suggested that you make available to Mr. Basil Miles⁴⁶ the substance of the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2, and the pertinent parts of this instruction in order that the American representatives at future meetings of the International Chamber of Commerce may be fully advised as to the provisions of the Tariff Act of 1922 affecting Customs Attachés and Tariff Commission representatives, and of the policy of this Government of putting these provisions into effect. You are authorized to cooperate with Mr. Miles in all proper ways to impress the International Chamber of Commerce with the sincere efforts which have been made by this Government to remove, as far as possible, the causes of the misunderstandings which have arisen abroad on account of this law.

I am [etc.]

Frank B. Kellogg

[Enclosure—Translation]

The French Ambassador (Jusserand) to the Secretary of State⁴⁷

Washington, May 26, 1924.

Mr. Secretary of State: I had the honor to draw Your Excellency’s attention in my note of February 11, 1922,⁴⁸ to the objectionable features of the activities of a representative of the Treasury Department, Mr. F. W. McReynolds, who conducted in France financial inquiries and would inspect the books of business firms.

In a communication dated March 23⁴⁸ of the same year, Your Excellency was pleased to let me know that Mr. McReynolds had been asked to stop his work and that this procedure would be discontinued.

In spite of this further inquiries have been made in France by representatives of the United States Tariff Commission, Messrs. Ernster, Hermes and Simpson in particular, and my Government found itself constrained to bring to the notice of the American Embassy at Paris in a note dated September 19, 1923,⁴⁸ the objectionable features of inquiries conducted apart from the official channels by officials whose mission was not even made known to the French Government.

The representatives of the Treasury Department are nevertheless carrying on their inquiries and even would, as they did before, claim the right to examine the accounts of our commercial firms.

In compliance with instructions just received from my Government and referring to the previous correspondence on the same subject, I have the honor to draw Your Excellency’s attention to the difficulties which such proceedings are likely to arouse. Not to enforce our laws on our own territory is impossible. Now, with a view to protecting the merchants and avoiding any possible disclosure which in some cases might bring ruin upon him, the law of France only permits of books being examined in judicial and revenue cases. And so the French Government cannot possibly grant to foreign officials powers that it cannot itself claim.

Be pleased [etc.]

Jusserand

45. The note was signed by the French Ambassador.
46. American administrator at the Paris headquarters of the International Chamber of Commerce.
47. Filed separately under file No. 811.5123/2009.
48. Not printed.
48. Not printed.
48. Not printed.