Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, Japan, 1931–1941, Volume II

Proclamation No. 2413, Signed by President Roosevelt, July 2, 1940¹¹

July 2, 1940

Whereas section 6 of the act of Congress entitled “An Act To expedite the strengthening of the national defense,” approved July 2, 1940,^11a provides as follows:

“Whenever the President determines that it is necessary in the interest of national defense to prohibit or curtail the exportation of any military equipment or munitions, or component parts thereof, or machinery, tools, or material or supplies necessary for the manufacture, servicing or operation thereof, he may by proclamation prohibit or curtail such exportation, except under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe. Any such proclamation shall describe the articles or materials included in the prohibition or curtailment contained therein. In case of the violation of any provision of any proclamation, or of any rule or regulation, issued hereunder, such violator or violators, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more then two years or by both such fine and imprisonment. The authority granted in this Act shall terminate June 30, 1942, unless the Congress shall otherwise provide.”

Now, therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said act of Congress, do hereby proclaim that the administration of the provisions of section 6 of that act is vested in the Administrator of Export Control, who shall administer such provisions under such rules and regulations as I shall from time to time prescribe in the interest of the national defense.

And I do hereby further proclaim that upon the recommendation of the aforesaid Administrator of Export Control, I have determined that it is necessary in the interest of the national defense that on and after July 5, 1940, the articles and materials hereinafter listed shall not be exported from the United States except when authorized in each case by a license as hereinafter provided:

1. Arms, ammunition, and implements of war as defined in my Proclamation No. 2237, of May 1, 1937.

2. The following basic materials and products containing the same:

a. Aluminum

b. Antimony

c. Asbestos

d. Chromium

e. Cotton linters

f. Flax

g. Graphite

h. Hides

i. Industrial diamonds

j. Manganese

k. Magnesium

l. Manila fiber

m. Mercury

n. Mica

o. Molybdenum

p. Optical glass

q. Platinum group metals

r. Quartz crystals

s. Quinine

t. Rubber

u. Silk

v. Tin

w. Toluol

x. Tungsten

y. Vanadium

z. Wool

3. Chemicals as follows:

a. Ammonia and ammonium compounds

b. Chlorine

c. Dimethylaniline

d. Diphenylamine

e. Nitric acid

f. Nitrates

g. Nitrocellulose, having a nitrogen content of less than 12 percent

h. Soda lime

i. Sodium acetate, anhydrous

j. Strontium chemicals

k. Sulphuric acid, fuming

4. Products as follows:

a. Aircraft parts, equipment, and accessories other than those listed in my proclamation of May 1, 1937

b. Armor plate, other than that listed in my proclamation of May 1, 1937

c. Glass, nonshatterable or bullet proof

d. Plastics, optically clear

e. Optical elements for fire control instruments, aircraft instruments, etc.

5. Machine tools as follows:

Metal-working machinery for—

(1) Melting or casting

(2) Pressing into forms

(3) Cutting or grinding, power driven

(4) Welding

And I do hereby empower the Secretary of State to issue licenses authorizing the exportation of any of the said articles and materials the exportation of which is not already subjected to the requirement that a license be obtained from the Secretary of State authorizing their exportation and I do hereby authorize and enjoin him to issue or refuse to issue licenses authorizing the exportation of any of the articles or materials listed above in accordance with the aforesaid rules and regulations or such specific directives as may be, from time to time, communicated to him by the Administrator of Export Control.

And I do hereby admonish all citizens of the United States and every person to abstain from every violation of the provisions of section 6 of the act above set forth, of the provisions of this proclamation, and of the provisions of such regulations as may be issued thereunder, and I do hereby warn them that all violations of such provisions will be rigorously prosecuted.

And I do hereby enjoin upon all officers of the United States, charged with the execution of the laws thereof, the utmost diligence in preventing violations of the said act, of this my proclamation, and of any regulations which may be issued pursuant hereto, and in bringing to trial and punishment any offenders against the same.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

[seal] Done at the City of Washington this 2nd day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-fourth, at 11 a.m., E. S. T.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

By the President:
Cordell Hull
Secretary of State

11. Reprinted from Department of State, Bulletin, July 6, 1940 (vol. iii. No. 54), p. 12.
12. 54 Stat. 712, 714.