611.4331/69
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at St. John’s (Quarton)
Sir: I enclose a copy of a memorandum of a conversation which took place on October 1 between the Honorable E. N. R. Trentham, Commissioner for Finance of Newfoundland, and Assistant Secretary Sayre,4 in regard to trade relations between the United States and Newfoundland.
You will observe that in his conversation with Mr. Trentham, Mr. Sayre discouraged the idea of special trade agreement negotiations between the United States and Newfoundland. It may be stated in amplification that the Trade Agreements Committee gave careful consideration to this question and reached the conclusion that, since approximately 80% of Newfoundland’s exports to the United States consist of news print paper and wood pulp, articles now on the free list, and the bulk of the remainder principally fish products of the cod family, products on which duty reductions appear unwarranted in the light of present economic conditions, such negotiations would appear to be of doubtful utility.
[Page 68]Please report any action which may be taken to place dried fruits on the free list in Newfoundland in pursuance of the recommendation which Mr. Trentham said he would make.5
Very truly yours,
- Supra.↩
- By telegram dated October 26, 1935, 10 p.m., the Consul General informed the Department that the Commission of Government of Newfoundland, at a meeting on October 24, had taken steps to remove the duty on certain dried fruits and to reduce the duty on other dried fruits, the change to be effective on November 15 (643.003/146).↩