Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, American Republics, Volume V

318. Letter From President Ruiz Cortines to President Eisenhower¹

Mexico City, October 6, 1958.

Dear Mr. President: I received your courteous letter of September 20,² which I was unable to answer until today because I was away from the capital during the past week. In your letter, you inform me of the reasons why your Government decided to establish import quotas on lead and zinc. You state in your letter that, in as much as the United States House of Representatives did not pass the mineralizaton stabilization law, and no agreement was reached among the countries concerned, in the talks held in London under the auspices of the United Nations, to solve the urgent problem of the imbalance between production and demand, you were compelled to accept the unanimous decision of the Tariff Commission that the lead and zinc industry is in a truly grave situation, requiring the immediate adoption of protective measures.

I understand that it is your duty to protect the mining industry of your country, and I am grateful for the friendly spirit that moved you to write to me and explain the reasons for your decision. I am certain that the present measures adopted are temporary, and I am confident that you will not relax your efforts to find a long-range solution that will harmonize American and Mexican interests. That is how I interpret your instructions to the Department of State to continue, in cooperation with representatives of Mexico and other Governments, its efforts to facilitate consideration of the problem on a multilateral basis.

The corresponding authorities of the Government of Mexico are now examining the situation that has been created in order to determine what steps we should take to ameliorate, in so far as possible, the injury that the restrictions will cause us. There is no doubt that the imposing of import quotas on lead and zinc will injure considerably the general economic life of my country, because of the importance of these products to us and the effects the new measure will have, when added to other equally adverse factors that have appeared in the field of foreign trade, such as the decline in the international prices of cotton and coffee, and in general, the drop in the price of basic products of the world market.

I wish to emphasize that I am confident (for I know their tenacity and fortitude) that the Mexican people will endeavor to overcome the present difficulties with the best weapons available to them, that is, patient work and day-by-day effort; but, at the same time, it is my fervent hope that-instead of being used to fight adversity—these qualities may be used, to an increasing extent, in creative activities intended to attain higher standards of living for our peoples.

I know that all this is a matter of deep concern to you, who have so often given proof of your understanding of the meaning of international friendship—specifically, in the efforts you have made to find a more satisfactory solution to the lead and zinc problem. I also know that the present situation is also of concern to all the Presidents of the other American nations, because it involves the principles of solidarity on which inter-American relations are founded and which were reaffirmed, with respect to economic cooperation, during the informal meeting of Ministers of Foreign Relations recently held in Washington.³

That is why I agree fully with you, Mr. President, that we must resume negotiations immediately at the multilateral level as well as the bilateral level, to find formulas that will permit the lead and zinc market to be finally stabilized.

I take pleasure in renewing to you the assurance of my high esteem and cordial friendship for you, Mr. President, and for the noble people of the United States of America.⁴

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File. Presidential Handling. The source text is a Department of State translation.
2. Supra.
3. The Foreign Ministers of the American Republics conferred informally in Washington September 23–24, where they approved measures looking toward more effective economic cooperation. Regarding the meeting, see the microfiche supplement to this volume.
4. Printed from an unsigned copy.