857.24/106
The Assistant Secretary of State ( Acheson ) to the Norwegian Ambassador ( Morgenstierne )
My Dear Mr. Ambassador: I refer to your recent conversations with Mr. Stettinius regarding the desire of your Government that the exportation to Norway of certain machinery in Sweden be permitted in connection with the rebuilding of the fertilizer plant at Heroya which was damaged and put out of action by American bombers. As was previously indicated to you this matter was referred to other interested agencies of this Government for their consideration and advice. Their reply has now been received and I am thus now able to furnish you with a definitive statement of this Government’s position in the matter as follows:
This Government has consistently taken the view that it would be impossible to approve the proposed export. It is not felt that the considerations cited in the memorandum of the Norwegian Embassy dated February 8 are such as to justify any change in the policy thus far pursued as none of those considerations meet the original objections to the proposed export. These objections include:
- 1.
- Norsk Hydro, the company which owns the fertilizer pant in Heroya, is completely under the control of the Germans. Its activities are directed by the I. G. Farben13 which owns 80 percent of the company’s stock.
- 2.
- Only a comparatively small share of the total fertilizer production of Norsk Hydro remains in Norway. During 1942–1943, of the total production of 64,700 tons of fertilizer only 18,000 tons remained in Norway while 27,000 tons went to Denmark, 15,500 tons to Sweden and 4,200 tons to Finland.
- 3.
- A primary objective in the War Trade Agreement with Sweden has been to diminish Swedish imports from enemy controlled territory so as to reduce Swedish exports to the enemy and increase Swedish dependence on United Nations sources for necessary supplies. Elimination so far as possible of Norwegian exports to Sweden which in 1942 were valued at over 90,000,000 kronor contributes to the achievement of this primary objective. As you know from the available facts relating to the Swedish-Norwegian Trade Agreement the Germans do not utilize the funds obtained by them from these exports to Sweden to import from Sweden products which contribute to the well-being of the Norwegian people; such funds in fact are used to import from Sweden cement, iron and steel products and similar products used by the Germans in building fortifications, et cetera.
- 4.
- Since the power installations of Norsk Hydro supply electricity to aluminum and other plants in the region there is danger that the [Page 1198] proposed exports would help to restore production in other bombed factories.
Other objections to approval of these exports have been given to you orally by the Department and to your Government in London. It is hoped that in view of the strong feelings of the competent agencies of this Government that permission should not be granted for the exportation from Sweden to Norway of the machinery necessary to rebuild this plant in view of the substantial assistance which would be given the German war effort if the machinery were exported, your Government will find it feasible to adopt a similar position and extend its cooperation to the end that the exportation of the machinery to Norway will be effectively blocked.
Very sincerely yours,
- A German chemical combine.↩