Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Foreign Economic Policy; Foreign Information Program, Volume IX

57. Minutes of a Meeting of the Council on Foreign Economic Policy Subcommittee on Cotton, Washington, February 24, 1956¹

Washington, February 24, 1956

1. The Special Interdepartmental Committee (Dr. Hauge, Messrs. Prochnow, Butz and Burgess) appointed by the Council on December 6, 1955 to submit recommendations concerning the disposal of CCC-owned cotton for export, met on February 24, 1956 to consider a proposed program of the Department of Agriculture to sell CCC-Owned upland cotton (additional to the one million bale program of August 12, 1955) on a competitive bid basis for export beginning August 1, 1956. This new program would be announced and initiated immediately.

2. Also attending this meeting were Messrs. Anderson, Johnson, Kalijarvi, Thibodeaux, Metzger, Mueller, FOSTER, Overby, Rhodes, Davis, Hutchinson, Patterson, FitzGerald, McCall, Rand, and Cullen.

3. Mr. Butz (Agriculture) briefed the group on the proposal and stated that it was most urgent that the program be approved and announced publicly not later than Tuesday, February 28, 1956, to gain Congressional support for the Administration’s position on the overall farm legislation which is expected to be voted on by the Senate not later than Thursday, March 1, 1956, and to avoid legislation making mandatory large exports at world prices.

4. An extended discussion took place concerning the many aspects of the problem, particularly with respect to:

a. Whether the new proposal is consistent with the commitment made by Secretary Benson on August 12, 1955 in announcing the one million bale program.

b. The position that the United States should take with respect to placing import quotas on processed textiles in order to help the domestic textile industry.

c. Placing a limitation on the size of the new program.

d. The impact that the new proposal would have on friendly foreign countries.

5. There was general agreement (1) that the proposal was not inconsistent with the August 12 announcement, (2) that the proposal would not have a serious impact on our relations with friendly foreign countries provided it was carried out in an orderly manner, (3) that no limit should be placed on the size of the new program, and (4) that it would result in demands by the domestic textile producers to protect their markets by quotas or otherwise, which would require serious consideration.

6. Dr. Hauge requested Messrs. Prochnow (State), Butz (Agriculture) and Mueller (Commerce)² to submit recommendations concerning the course of action to be taken with respect to the demands of the domestic textile producers.

7. There was agreement by all present (with the exception of the representative of CEA who dissented, and the representative of the Bureau of the Budget who abstained) that the Department of Agriculture proposal should be approved. It was agreed, however, that in view of the interest previously expressed in this problem by the President, that no action should be taken until the proposal had been brought to his attention.

8. The Chairman CFEP was advised by the Secretary CFEP by telephone on February 24 of the above action and he expressed his approval thereof.³

Paul H. Cullen
Lt. Col., USA

1. Source: Department of State, E–CFEP Files: Lot 61 D 282A, Disposal of CCC-Owned Cotton—CFEP–529. Official Use Only. Prepared by Cullen who forwarded the minutes to the Council on Foreign Economic Policy under cover of a memorandum of February 28.
2. Frederick H. Mueller, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Domestic Affairs.
3. The Department of Agriculture proposal was approved by President Eisenhower on February 25 and was announced by the Department of Agriculture on February 28, 1956. (Memorandum from Cullen to the Council on Foreign Economic Policy, February 28, 1956)