611.59A31/24
Memorandum by Mr. Randolph Higgs of the Division of European Affairs 3
Mr. Thor Thors, Consul General of Iceland at New York, called on Mr. Atherton, Acting Chief, Division of European Affairs, this morning at 10:50 to present the members of the Icelandic Trade Delegation:
- Vilhjalmur Thor, Chairman of the Delegation and General Manager of the National Bank of Iceland.
- Asgeir Asgeirsson, General Manager of the Fisheries Bank. Björn Olafsson.
- Mr. Thor Thors, Consul General of Iceland in New York.
- Mr. Jonsson, Icelandic Vice Consul at New York and Secretary of the Delegation.
Mr. Atherton welcomed the Delegation and, in company with Mr. Higgs, Division of European Affairs, took the Delegation to Mr. Welles’4 office.
[Here follows account of courtesy call upon the Under Secretary of State.]
At 11:15 the Delegation, accompanied by Mr. Atherton and Mr. Higgs, called upon Mr. Acheson. Also present were Mr. Charles Curtis, Mr. Meltzer and Mr. dimming.5 After being welcomed by Mr. Acheson, Mr. Thor read a memorandum6 setting forth the desiderata of the Icelandic Delegation. After finishing reading the memorandum, Mr. Thor handed a copy thereof to Mr. Acheson. Mr. Acheson stated that the desiderata set forth by Mr. Thor appeared to coincide almost entirely with the ideas of the United States Government [Page 759] with respect to the development of trade relations between Iceland and the United States. He remarked that the principal difference seemed to lie in the greater emphasis which the United States Government placed upon the continuation of Icelandic exports to Great Britain. Mr. Acheson then told the Icelandic Delegation that Mr. Berle, Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. MacVeagh, newly appointed American Minister to Iceland, Mr. Atherton, Acting Chief of the Division of European Affairs, and he himself would be principally concerned with the negotiations with the Delegation in so far as the United States is concerned. He stated that as a practical matter, however, it had been decided that Mr. Cumming of the Division of European Affairs, Mr. Curtis and Mr. Meltzer would begin conversations with the Delegation with a view to assembling relevant factual data which would later form the basis of negotiations looking toward a formal agreement between Iceland and the United States.
The several members of the Icelandic Delegation expressed their satisfaction with Mr. Acheson’s suggestions as to the procedure to be followed in conducting the negotiations and the meeting closed with the usual amenities.
- Addressed to Dean Acheson, Assistant Secretary of State; Charles Curtis, of the Division of Commercial Policy and Agreements; Bernard D. Meltzer, Assistant to Assistant Secretary of State Acheson; and Herbert Feis, Adviser on International Economic Affairs.↩
- Sumner Welles, Under Secretary of State.↩
- Hugh S. Cumming, Jr., of the Division of European Affairs.↩
- Infra. ↩