611.006/843aa: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in Great Britain ( Laughlin )34
3420. For Sheldon [from War Trade Board]: No. 1861. The following is an expression of the present policy of the War Trade Board. The shipping facilities at the disposal of the Allies must be used first, to cover present military necessity and to provide the essential imports for the Associated Governments; second, to meet the needs of peoples in the devastated areas, liberated regions and of others toward whom there are allied obligations; and third, to re-establish the world’s international trade. The first purpose must be accomplished almost completely by the Associated Governments individually; in the accomplishment of the second purpose, consistency and harmony of action can be secured through the Allied Maritime Transport Council or some similar body. To serve the third purpose, shipping not required for the first two purposes must be left as free as possible, though the conditions of the present transition period may make it necessary that complete freedom should be reached gradually. In freeing these ships for trade, we feel that it is of prime importance that the Associated Governments should act openly and frankly and in cooperation wherever practicable.
The War Trade Board’s influence on the shipping of the United States has resided in its control of exports and imports through licenses. It has been clearly recognized that this control is indirect and does not lead to the most efficient use of ships, but at the beginning of the war the preponderance of free ships trading at our ports made it the only system of control which could be used. It is today, because of its inflexibility, a less efficient instrument than it was during war time.
We believe, therefore, that it will become rapidly more and more impracticable to continue to control the use of shipping through [Page 759] the restriction of imports in the face of great pressure from legitimate trade interests which are able repeatedly to show individual cases of available shipping, underloading of ships, and the like. Our tonnage suitable for trans-Atlantic trade is now practically all under the control of the Army; and it is by means of such controlled shipping that we can best do our share in meeting the military and common relief obligations of the Associated Governments.
The Army with its controlled tonnage stands ready to insure the performance of our full share of international obligations equitably adjusted by common agreement, with the understanding that such control shall be increased by additional allocation, if conditions so demand when all the requirements are known.
We can see no national or international interest which would be served by the maintenance of import restrictions which would merely control the character of the incoming cargoes of vessels not under Army control. The commodity situation in the United States is such that there is no warrant for the establishment of import priorities, and we propose to let the operations of these free vessels be governed by ordinary economic laws. Accordingly we intend to have the greater part of our import restrictions removed not later than February 1st, except those which it may be necessary to maintain for the protection of such allied interests as may be later agreed upon.
It should be clearly borne in mind that this freedom from import restrictions will apply only to the limited number of vessels freed from time to time from War Department control as constituting a temporary surplus over present military and world relief requirements, and that the War Trade Board still retains its power to restrict imports, which power will again be exercised if occasion should again arise to induce by this measure the restoration of these vessels to military or relief service.
We desire to have the opinion of the highest British officials on the above statement and ask that you take it first to Stevens and Rublee for consultation. Repeat to McFadden.
- See last sentence for instructions to repeat to McFadden, in France.↩