611.5231/770
Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State
The Spanish Ambassador came in to tell me of the receipt of a long telegram from his Government expressing in strong terms the Government’s disappointment at the receipt of the Ambassador’s report that there seemed to be little hope of negotiating a new commercial treaty at the present time with Spain. The Ambassador said that his report had been based on his conversations with me in which I had spoken about the discriminations against American exports to Spain, etc., etc. It was evident, however, that the Ambassador had received new instructions to press for a reconsideration on our part.
He referred to the fact that there were two exports on which Spain desired to have relief: one, grapes, and two, cork.
The Ambassador went on to explain the manner in which Argentine grapes were shipped to the United States; that the same fly which existed in Spain existed in the Argentine; but that to overcome this difficulty the Argentine’s grape growing industry had been segregated into districts and grapes were allowed to be imported into the United States if they came from certain districts that were known by us to have no fly. The Ambassador said he understood perfectly that the real reason for the discrimination against the Spanish grapes was the fact that the Spanish grapes were exported during the summer season in competition with the California grapes, whereas the Argentine grapes reached the United States in winter. He said the Spanish Government could not recognize the right of such discrimination. He asked that the Spanish grape growing industry should be divided into districts according to the presence or non-presence of the fly, precisely similar to the district divisions in the Argentine, and that we should permit the import of grapes from the healthy districts. Inasmuch as this was purely an administrative matter and was within the powers of the Department of Agriculture, he asked that this Department should express to the Department of Agriculture his Government’s interest and its hope that the Department of Agriculture would reconsider the subject with the technical experts in the Spanish Embassy.
As far as cork was concerned, this was a matter solely within the province of the Tariff Commission. The Ambassador expressed the hope that we could in some way facilitate or hasten a decision regarding the [Page 696] duties on the import of cork, which he felt sure would be favorable to the Spanish cause.
With these two items disposed of, the Ambassador said that the attitude of Spain towards American imports would be wholly changed and that some very satisfactory arrangements could be made. He felt that this could all be worked out and put into effect this summer since no Senatorial action would be necessary.