635.4131/6–749
The Secretary of Commerce (Sawyer) to the Acting Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: Agreement in principle on a five-year trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Argentina has recently been announced.1 It appears that the agreement includes a meat contract, a provision for the effective monopolization by British suppliers of the Argentine market for petroleum products, and provisions for a bilateral balancing arrangement in which Argentine trade is tied tightly to that of Britain.
For some weeks the problems involved in the negotiation of this agreement have been under discussion by the staffs of our two Departments and the Economic Cooperation Administration.
I understand that, just prior to the conclusion of the Anglo-Argentine negotiations, you indicated to the British Embassy that the United States does not look with favor upon the consummation of such an agreement. However, as I understand it, the Embassy has [Page 505] indicated that it regrets that the views of this Government were not made known sufficiently early to be given weight.
My primary concern is for the interests of United States trade, since agreements such as the one just completed tend to exclude American business from markets on the development of which it has expended much effort and money over a number of years. Such an agreement creates an unfortunate precedent. The agreement in question, if fully implemented, will give to the United Kingdom a greater proportion of the trade with the Argentine than it has enjoyed at any time during this century. The discrimination against United States trade with Argentina resulting therefrom is unnecessary and undesirable. Justified complaint by business has been expressed both to your Department and mine. When we are advocating policies of multilateral trade, allowing actions such as this to pass without serious challenge can only result in failure for our foreign commercial policy.
I know you share my view that the proper protection of United States business interests, the implementation of our commercial policy, and the restoration of multilateral world trade, all emphasize the need for prompt corrective action in this case. It is my conviction that the Anglo-Argentine agreement will have to be revised in any case. I urge that we make our judgment known to both the British Government and the Argentine Government at the earliest possible moment in order that modification of the present agreement may be brought about at an early date.
Sincerely yours,
- Reference is to the United Kingdom-Argentine Trade and Payments Agreement signed on June 27, 1949, the text of which is printed in United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 83, p. 217.↩