811.20 Defense (Wool)/568

The Uruguayan Ambassador ( Blanco ) to the Secretary of State

[Translation]
No. 450/42
C. 12/942

Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor to address Your Excellency in connection with the note of June 15 last, which the Uruguayan Commission for Inter-American Development addressed to the Minister of Foreign Relations of my country, in which the problem created for the Uruguayan producers and merchants, by reason of the scarcity of warehouses, was dealt with.

It is stated in the said note that, on May 15 last, there were fifteen thousand bales of wool sold and ready for shipment. The quantity in question had a value of approximately ten million pesos. Those ten million pesos have already been paid to the producers, without anything having been collected as yet from the buyers in the interior, since the financing of these purchases is on the basis of “payment against shipping documents.”

As the present state of war causes a general delay of several months in the shipment of wool, the bank credits which support the operations fall due in the interim, thus creating a difficult situation for the exporters.

In normal times, there is no difficulty in financing the operations on the basis already mentioned, but at this time, the problem which has been outlined causes serious disturbances for which it is necessary to find a solution.

The Uruguayan Commission for Inter-American Development, complying with a request of the Chamber of Commerce for Domestic Products (“Cámara Mercantil de Productos del País”), suggests a formula which takes into consideration the interests of our economy and those of the importers in the United States:

That the sale of wool be made on the basis of “payment against documents showing warehousing in private sheds, to the satisfaction [Page 696] of the bank concerned in the operation, or in fiscal warehouses” and that this condition be made effective in cases in which shipments cannot be made within ninety days of the sale. If shipment is made before the ninety days are up, payments would be made as they have been till now, that is to say: “against shipping documents”.

A settlement of this kind with the United States would constitute a solution in the case of one of the preoccupations of major importance to Uruguayan domestic commerce and banking.

That is why I submit the problem in question to Your Excellency’s sympathetic consideration, assuring you of my highest consideration.

J. C. Blanco