647.116/148a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Sydney (Moffat)
Please communicate with the Government of Australia in the following sense: The Department has received directly from business men and indirectly through members of Congress an indication that American exporters who for many years have supplied the needs of Australian customers are alarmed about the possible results of the recent action of the Government of Australia. It appears that some agents in Australia have informed their principals that there is a complete embargo on all American products. Others have peremptorily cancelled all existing orders, while some who seem to have a better grasp of the situation nevertheless apprehend a far greater restriction on their trade than the Australian Government apparently proposed to effect.
We do not believe that it was the intention of the Australian Government to cause widespread alarm and uncertainty and we feel that [Page 756] that Government will therefore wish to broadcast sufficient information to enable the business world both there and here to grasp the true implications of its recent action. We hope, therefore, that immediate steps will be taken to the end that such alarm be allayed and such uncertainty removed.
Send Wellington a copy of my May 27 with explanations.