Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

560.AL/8–3149

Memorandum by the Secretary of State to President Truman

secret

Washington, August 31, 1949.

Subject: Recommendation of the Interdepartmental Committee on Trade Agreements that the Reciprocal Trade Agreement between the United States and Colombia signed September 13, 1935¹ be terminated.

There is transmitted herewith a recommendation of the Interdepartmental Committee on Trade Agreements that the Reciprocal Trade Agreement described above be terminated by joint action of the two governments if possible and, if not, by unilateral action on the part of the United States.

I recommend that the committee’s recommendation be approved.²

Dean Acheson

[Enclosure]

Memorandum for the President

Subject: Proposed termination of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement between the United States and Colombia signed September 13, 1935.

For some time past Colombia has maintained a system of taxes on purchases of foreign exchange which constitute import charges on a wide range of United States export products in violation of the terms of the agreement indicated above.

It had been hoped that Colombia would accede to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade³ following tariff negotiations at Annecy, France between Colombia and other contracting parties to the Agreement and that an acceptable solution of Colombia’s recognized tariff adjustment problem would thereby be achieved. Colombia’s accession to the General Agreement would have been accompanied by a bilateral agreement between the two countries terminating the trade agreement of 1935.

However, negotiations between the United States and Colombia at Annecy have broken down owing to the unsatisfactory character of the Colombian offers, and it is clear that Colombia will not accede to the General Agreement at this time.

Colombia intends to continue in force the system of exchange taxes which violate the old trade agreement, and there is little or no hope that continuation of the agreement in force will exert any moderating influence upon Colombia’s tariff program. Furthermore, under prevailing conditions of trade it is believed that American exports would not suffer as a result of terminating the agreement.

As part of a joint statement to be issued to the press on September 3 at Annecy announcing failure to reach agreement, it is planned to indicate that the two delegations are recommending the termination of the old trade agreement through joint action.⁴ Considering it desirable to obtain your approval Prior to any public announcement on the matter, the committee recommends termination of the trade agreement by mutual consent of the two governments if possible and, if not, by unilateral action on the part of the United States. Your approval of the proposed course of action is requested, and it would be appreciated if the committee could be informed of your decision by September 2.⁵

Carl D. Corse

Alternate Chairman
Interdepartmental Committee on Trade Agreements

1. Text in Department of State Executive Agreement Series No. 89, and 49 Stat. (pt. 2) 3875.
2. The Department of State file copy bears the notation: “Approved Harry S. Truman”.
3. The text of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is contained in TIAS 1700, or 61 Stat. (pts. 5–6). Documentation on U.S. participation is contained in volume i.
4. The text of the statement is printed in Department of State Bulletin, September 19, 1949, p. 439.
5. The text of the United States-Colombia Agreement of October 12, 1949 terminating the Agreement of September 13, 1935 is printed as Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 2207 in United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST), vol. 2, p. 569.