War Trade Board Files

Announcement by the War Trade Board Section of the Department of State

W.T.B.R. 841

The War Trade Board Section of the Department of State announces that Special Export License RAC–77, W.T.B.R. 833, has [Page 744] been extended and reissued, effective July 8, 1920. Special Export License RAC–77 as amended will authorize the exportation by freight or express, without individual licenses to all countries in the world, of all commodities, whatsoever, except (1) certain commodities as listed below when destined to Russia, Hungary, the Republic of Austria, Bulgaria, or Turkey; (2) arms, ammunition, and explosives consigned to China; (3) arms and munitions of war consigned to Mexico, the control over the exportation of which has been vested in the Secretary of State (W.T.B.R. 830, issued September 22, 1919.)

An individual export license must be obtained before any of the commodities hereinafter mentioned may be exported to Russia, Hungary, the Republic of Austria, Bulgaria or Turkey. The importation into the above named countries of the following commodities will be restricted, and individual export licenses will be granted only in exceptional cases:

  • Aircraft of all kinds, including aeroplanes, airships, balloons and their component parts, together with accessories and articles suitable for use in connection with aircraft.
  • Apparatus which can be used for the storage or projection of compressed or liquefied gases, flame, acids, or other destructive agents capable of use in warlike operations, and their component parts.
  • Armor plates.
  • Armored motor cars.
  • Arms of all kinds including arms for sporting purposes and their component parts.
  • Barbed wire and implements for fixing and cutting same.
  • Camp equipment.
  • Camp equipment, articles of, and their component parts.
  • Clothing and equipment of a distinctively military character.
  • Electric appliances adapted for use in war, and their component parts.
  • Explosives, especially prepared for use in war.
  • Field glasses.
  • Gases for war purposes.
  • Guns and machine guns.
  • Gun mountings, limbers, and military wagons of all descriptions.
  • Harness or horse equipment of a military character.
  • Implements and apparatus designed exclusively for the manufacture of munitions of war, or for the manufacture or repair of arms or of war materials, for use on land or sea.
  • Mines, submarines, and their component parts.
  • Projectiles, charges, cartridges, and grenades of all kinds and their component parts.
  • Range finders and their component parts.
  • Searchlights and their component parts.
  • Submarine sound signaling apparatus and materials for wireless telegraphs.
  • Torpedoes.
  • Warships, including boats and their component parts of such a nature that they can only be used on a vessel of war.

Individual export licenses are required for the export to Russia of the following commodities, and will be granted when exporters submit convincing evidence that the articles are destined for civil purposes only:

  • Locomotives, railroad material, and rolling stock.
  • Motor cars (freight or passenger) and component parts.

The exportation to Russia, the Republic of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey of the following articles, viz, barbed wire and implements for fixing and cutting the same, articles of camp equipment and their component parts, clothing and equipment of a distinctly military character, electrical appliances for use in war, and their component parts, military wagons of all descriptions, and harness or horse equipment of a military character, is forbidden only on account of the military use to which such articles can be put. If exporters have information showing that the articles are destined for civil purposes, the same should be submitted with their applications for export licenses.

Exporters who desire to make shipments under Special Export License RAC–77, need only present their Shipper’s Export Declarations (Customs Cat. 7525) in duplicate, (See W.T.B.R. 828 issued August 21, 1919), to the Collector of Customs at the ports of exit for endorsement to permit the shipments to proceed.