Office of the Historian

611.60c31/89

The Minister in Poland (Stetson) to the Secretary of State

Warsaw, November 21, 1928.
[Received December 11.]
No. 2030

Sir: Adverting to the Legation’s previous correspondence with the Department relative to the question of indirect trade between the United States and Poland, I now have the honor to transmit herewith copy of a memorandum which was delivered by Mr. Biega, of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mr. Werlich, of this Legation, under date of October 31 [30], 1928.

The memorandum in question includes a decision of the Economic Council of Ministers relative to the policy to be adopted by the Polish Government in the negotiations for a commercial treaty with the United States.

I have been advised by Count Potocki, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the decision of the Economic Council of Ministers has already been communicated to Mr. Ciechanowski, the Polish Minister in Washington, for his information and for his guidance in any negotiations that may take place in Washington between representatives of the Polish and the American Governments, with a view to concluding a commercial treaty.

I have [etc.]

John B. Stetson, Jr.
[Page 936]
[Enclosure—Memorandum]

The Polish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the American Legation

By their decision of 28th October the Council of Ministers have agreed to admit in the now being negotiated commercial treaty between Poland and the U. S. A. the principle of equal treatment of all merchandise without discrimination whether it is shipped directly or indirectly to the Polish custom frontier on the condition however, that:

a)
The Polish Government will receive the consent of the Government of the U. S. A. that the above principle will come into application simultaneously with the treaty itself and that the Government of the U. S. A. will not press on the Polish Government the application of the same until the coming into force of the said treaty. Should the coming into force of the said treaty for some unforeseen reasons be unduly delayed it is understood that the above obligation on the part of the U. S. A. Government will be binding for a period of six months only.
b)
The article in question will be worded in such a way (1) as to indicate beyond any doubt that this privilege of indirect importation is applicable only to the merchandise which on its way to Poland must at least partly be transported across the sea, (2) as to make impossible the substitution of the merchandise of other countries for American merchandise in the stores of the transit countries.

Warsaw, 30 October, 1928.