611.5431/192: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Wilson)

44. Your 25, June 10, 11 a.m. We have requested Mr. Stucki to bring to you copies of the minutes of the meetings. I believe you will find these minutes sufficient for any discussion which you may have with Stucki.

Briefly stated, the discussions with Mr. Stucki have been limited to (1) telling him what concessions we could make and explaining why it was not possible to meet all of his demands; (2) to receiving from Mr. Stucki the list of concessions which he could make to us, and (3) a discussion of the general provisions of the agreement. Within the limits of our economic and political situation here we feel that we have made a fair and satisfactory proposal to the Swiss. We have agreed to give further consideration to certain items in the light of information brought out during the discussions. The Swiss concessions to us are not entirely satisfactory, since they leave out undertakings on their part in respect of several import items such as lard. It is our hope that upon Mr. Stucki’s return he will find it [Page 759] possible to accord us the concessions we have asked on these products. If this cannot be done we fear that the Interdepartmental Committee on Trade Agreements will not approve the agreement. However, if this can be done, we feel that a mutually satisfactory agreement can be drawn, particularly since we find ourselves at no great variance with respect to most of the general provisions.

Hull