893.50 Recovery/10–3149
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs (Sprouse) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)
Reference is made to your memorandum of October 2134 requesting information with regard to the status of shipments which have been made in accordance with Section 404(b) of the China Aid Act and to the oral estimate presented on that date. Best estimates at present, obtained from agency reports available in FE and from telephone conversations, indicate that materials costing $4 to 5 million remain to be shipped. With the possible exception of a few items purchased by the Chinese through commercial sources and certain metals being purchased by the Bureau of Federal Supply, the balance of the shipments should be completed in December.
Mr. Yost in the Executive Director’s Office is in the process of making a compilation of agency reports formerly submitted to Mr. [Page 577] Hall35 (OMB) and Chinese Embassy reports which were sent to CA. In the near future when these reports are consolidated that office will be in a position to provide more definitive information concerning expenditures and shipments.
As it presently appears that the bulk of the materials remaining to be shipped are either those purchased commercially by the Chinese or are metals, the shipment of which is being delayed by the steel strike, it would not appear feasible to expedite the shipment of a significant portion of the remainder of the program. The study of agency reports which is being made in the Executive Director’s Office, however, may reveal certain items which might be expedited should it be considered desirable.