651.113/182
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in France (Marriner)
Sir: Reference is made to your telegram No. 482 of June 28, 1934, with regard to the excise tax on coal imported into the United States from foreign sources.
The Department of Justice has recently decided that an appeal will not be taken from the decisions of the lower courts as outlined to you in instruction No. 443 of June 19, 1934. It is understood that as a result of this decision the opinions of the lower courts will stand, and that henceforth this tax will not be applicable to those countries with which the United States has definitive unconditional most-favored-nation commercial treaties. In answer to your inquiry, as presented in [Page 196] your telegram No. 482, it should be pointed out that the modus vivendi of 1927 with France is merely an executive agreement, and as such does not become a part of the law of the land. Only definitive treaties which have received the approval of the Senate would have sufficient force to override a statutory provision such as the provisions in Section 601 of the Revenue Act of 1932.
Very truly yours,