611.5131/781
The Chargé in France (Armour) to the
Secretary of State
Paris, August 13, 1929.
[Received August
21.]
No. 9759Sir: With reference to my telegram No. 380 of
yesterday11 I have
the honor to transmit herewith in copy and translation the text of the
note from the Foreign Office, dated August 9, 1929, replying to our note
of July 26,12 concerning customs
evaluations.
As set forth in my telegram under reference, in conversations at the
Foreign Office the Division of Commercial Relations stated that there
was no present intention of exercising the right of reciprocity
requested with respect to the assignment and activities of French
customs agents; the Division indicated that this stipulation was
[Page 1000]
inserted in order to satisfy
the amour-propre of various interested parties
here.
It will be observed that it is the understanding of the French Government
that our Treasury agents should be attached to the American consulates.
The Department’s note—embodied in its instruction No. 4161 of July
13—refers on page 6 to the French proposal as being “that officers of
the United States Treasury Department be attached to the American
Consulate,” and lower on the same page the singular, “American
Consulate,” is again used. In discussing this point the Foreign Office
referred to the draft agreement enclosed with its note of March 6, 1929,
which proposes attaching Treasury agents to the “autorités consulaires
américaines.” It inquired whether the use of the singular in our note
was deliberate and, in that event, whether it meant the Consulate
General in Paris, In this connection the Division of Commercial
Relations referred somewhat vaguely to a conversation had by M. Claudel
in the Department, in the course of which recognition was voiced of the
idea that it might be advantageous to have a larger number of Treasury
agents than heretofore operating in France. Considering how desirous the
French were of getting every single American Treasury agent out of
France, the foregoing is interesting to say the least.
The remaining sentence in the paragraph of the French note above referred
to states that “It is, indeed, desirable that in the exercise of their
new functions they (the Treasury agents) should be officially accredited
in France.” The Department, however, may take it for granted that the
French Government thereby in no way envisages according these agents
diplomatic status; consequently, this question, which in the past has
occasioned a considerable amount of difficulty, cannot be deemed raised
by this portion of the French note.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure—Translation]
The Director of Political and Commercial Affairs
of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Corbin) to the American Chargé (Armour)
Mr. Chargé d’affaires: By letter dated July
26, 1929, you were good enough to convey to me a communication from
the Government of the United States which concluded as follows:
(Then follows a translation in French of the
text of our note embodied in the Department’s instruction
No. 4161 of July 13, as set forth on pages 8 and 9 thereof,
with the exception of the first sentence on
[Page 1001]
page 8. That is to say,
beginning with the words “In deference to the wishes of the
French Government,” down through the end of the note.)
In acknowledging the receipt of this communication I have the honor
to inform you that the French Government has appreciated the
friendly spirit in which the Government of the United States has
sought the solution of the difficulties relative to the evaluation
of French merchandise exported to the United States.
The French Government especially notes with satisfaction that Section
510 of the Tariff Act may be expected to be abrogated and that the
role of the Treasury agents would consequently be limited to
offering their services to the French exporter in order to give the
latter, by furnishing the information required by the American
customs administration, the opportunity of claiming the benefit of
the foreign value or export value of his merchandise.
Moreover, you are good enough to give me the assurance that the
instructions which will be given to the new agents, along with the
discrimination in their selection, will make of them collaborators
of our exporters and will render their activity acceptable in every
way to the French Government.
In view of the essential modifications which the abrogation of
Section 510 and the assurances above set forth would effect in the
powers of American customs agents, the French Government would see
no objection to the return of these agents in France, it being well
understood that their activity would be exerted strictly under the
conditions explicitly defined in your communication above set
forth.
As the American Government is good enough to agree, these agents
would be attached to American consulates. It is, indeed, desirable
that in the exercise of their new functions they should be
officially accredited in France.
Moreover, and by way of reciprocity, the French Government requests
that the Government of the United States should consent, as was
proposed by it in its note of October 19, 1928, to representatives
of the French customs being assigned to the United States with
powers identical to those with which American customs agents in
France will be invested.
I should be obliged to you to let me know if the Government of the
United States gives its definitive approval to the preceding
propositions.
In case the Government of the United States should judge it possible
forthwith to apply the arrangement resulting from your communication
and the present letter, the French Government is ready to accept the
immediate return to France of the American Treasury agents.
[Page 1002]
It remains understood that the present agreement would become null
and void if, in the event that Congress should have reenacted the
former article 510, the Administration of the United States would
have recourse to the reprisals there envisaged.
Please accept [etc.]
