121.5763/–
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Austria (Washburn)41
Sir: By an Act of Congress approved January 13, 1925,42 it was provided that agents of the Customs Division of the United States Treasury stationed abroad and hitherto entitled Customs Representatives should be regularly and officially attached to American Diplomatic Missions. The title of Customs Attaché has been provided for them and the Secretary of the Treasury has now transmitted to the Department a list of Customs Attachés and Assistant Customs Attachés whom it is desired to have attached to the appropriate American Diplomatic Missions.
There is transmitted herewith a copy of the Act of January 13, 1925. The following officials have been assigned to duty in the territory which includes Austria. You are hereby notified that there have been attached to your Legation, as well as to certain other Missions:43
- James F. O’Neill, Customs Attaché.
- George R. Coxe, Assistant Customs Attaché.
- John P. Griebel, Assistant Customs Attaché.
- Lucien Picard, Customs Clerk.
You are directed to inform the Austrian Government of the appointment of these Customs Attachés and Assistant Customs Attachés and that their customary headquarters will be at 14 Kappelergasse, [Page 228] Zurich 1, Switzerland. You will further inform the Austrian Government that these officials have been attached to your Legation and you will request their recognition in their respective capacities by the appropriate authorities.
In making this notification, you are directed to state that the duties of these Attachés will be in general the following:
Under Section 402 of the United States Tariff Act of 1922 they ascertain the facts relative to the “market value” of merchandise exported to the United States from the countries to which they are assigned; the conditions of sale and shipment thereof; the correctness of invoices executed by shippers; and any other facts deemed necessary to a proper appraisement, examination and classification of the merchandise. This information is embodied in reports submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury for reference to appraising and other customs officers at ports of importation in the United States. They advise foreign exporters and shippers as to the United States Tariff Law and invoice requirements. By direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, upon request from appraising officers, or upon their own motion when they have reason to believe that fraud or undervaluation exists, they make special investigations in the above subjects as well as other violations of the Customs Revenue Laws and improper invoicing of merchandise, and, when necessary, inquire into the cost of production of merchandise. The facts ascertained and reported by them are also used in connection with the enforcement of the statutes of the United States intended to prevent dumping of foreign merchandise into the United States at less than a fair value.
In case you deem it advisable you may furnish to the appropriate authorities the more comprehensive and detailed description of the activities of Customs Attachés that is contained in the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2, 1925, with reference to this subject. In any event, you will point out that no inquiry into cost of production will be undertaken by Customs Attachés without the prior general or specific permission of the interested government.
In view of the considerable number of these Attachés assigned to a district comprising several countries and the consequent necessity of attaching the whole number of such Attachés to the Diplomatic Mission in each country in this district, it is not believed to be necessary that these officials be carried on the diplomatic lists of each country in which they may occasionally perform duties. Although these officials will be provided with American Diplomatic Passports and will hold the status of Attachés of the American Diplomatic Mission, their duties, as noted above, do not normally bring them into contact with foreign governments, but rather with foreign individuals [Page 229] and business firms. Consequently, it would appear to be sufficient if the principal Customs Attachés only were placed on the diplomatic lists of foreign governments, provided that such governments recognize for practical purposes the official status of the Assistant Customs Attachés who are on the staff of the principal Customs Attaché. If, however, any foreign government should prefer to place both the Customs Attaché and the Assistant Customs Attachés on its diplomatic list, there would appear to be no objection thereto. In the event that, due to the exigencies of the Customs Service, a Customs Attaché who has not been regularly assigned to Austria should be assigned there for temporary duty, he will not begin to perform such duty pending notification to you and by you to the Austrian Government of his presence and official status. Instructions in this sense will be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury.
For your information, it is pointed out that the legislation directing that these Customs officials be attached to American Diplomatic Missions came about through the difficulties which they have hitherto experienced on account of a lack of understanding on the part of foreign governments of their status and duties under the American laws under which they are operating. There is quoted in this connection a portion of a letter from the Treasury Department:
“The purpose of this proposed amendment is to give the Customs representatives abroad a privileged official status which will enable them to obtain information now denied to them, facilitate their travelling throughout the countries to which they are assigned, and also to escape the burdens of foreign taxation that are now so great as to threaten the continuance of this work in foreign countries. …44 It is not intended to seek diplomatic or social preferment for these representatives.”
Your best efforts are desired in explaining to the appropriate Austrian authorities the duties of the Customs Attachés. To this end, you are authorized to make full use of the information contained in the Department’s Circular Instruction of April 2, 1925. You will take all appropriate means to remove misunderstandings that may arise and to cooperate in all proper ways to make the work of the Customs Attachés both useful to this Government, and unobjectionable to the Austrian Government. It is suggested that you keep in close and constant touch with the Customs Attachés and with their activities, and that you take all appropriate means to insure that their duties are performed in a manner consistent with their status as attachés of your Legation.
I am [etc.]
- The same instruction, mutatis mutandis, was sent on April 21 to the Embassies in Belgium (No. 128), Germany (No. 3821), Italy (No. 272), and Spain (No. 221); to the Legations in Bulgaria (No. 125), Denmark (No. 271), Greece (No. 189), Hungary (No. 940), Netherlands (No. 226), Norway (No. 198), Poland (No. 110), Portugal (No. 639), Rumania (No. 371), and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (No. 563); and on May 5 to the Legations in China (No. 893) and Finland (No. 133). Similar instructions were sent on April 18 to the Legation in Switzerland (No. 206; see p. 233, footnote 49), and on April 21 to the Embassy in France (No. 1475, post, p. 230) and to the Legation in Sweden (No. 123, post, p. 233). On May 5 the Embassy in Japan was informed that if a customs attaché were appointed for duty in Japan the Embassy would be instructed later to make appropriate notification to the Japanese Government (file No. 121.5794/–).↩
- 43 Stat. 748.↩
-
Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Rumania, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Switzerland.
The instructions to the Missions in Belgium, France, Portugal, and Spain stated that Messrs. S. E. Armstrong, customs attaché, and Edgar M. Barber, Henry M. Clapp, and Paul H. Watson, assistant customs attachés, would be attached to them with headquarters at 55 Rue de Rivoli, Paris; the Legation in China was informed that Messrs. Martin B. Nicholson, customs attaché, and Martin G. Scott, assistant customs attaché, would be attached to it with headquarters at Shanghai; the instructions to the Missions in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Sweden informed them that Messrs. F. X. A. Eble, customs attaché, and Charles H. Aschenbach, John Cameron, Paul Hermes, Max Richert, Charles S. Turrill, and Max Teuscher, assistant customs attachés, were attached to them with headquarters at 17, von der Heydt Strasse, Berlin; Messrs. George R. Coxe and John P. Griebel, assistant customs attachés, and Lucien Picard, customs clerk, were also attached to the Embassy in Germany for duty in Bavaria, Baden, and Württemburg.
↩ - Omission indicated in the original instruction.↩