611.2331/157
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. H. Gerald Smith of the Division of Trade Agreements
| Participants: | Señor Juan Chavez, Commercial Counselor, Peruvian Embassy; |
| Señor Pedro Beltrán, Special Commercial Delegate of Peru; | |
| Mr. Hawkins; | |
| Mr. Smith. |
Señor Chavez and Señor Beltrán called by appointment to continue the conversation held on the previous day with respect to the possibility of establishing a basis for trade-agreement negotiations between the United States and Peru.
Mr. Hawkins indicated again that trade agreements now under negotiation with several countries would completely occupy the time of the trade-agreements organization, probably until at least the end of the present year. Shortly thereafter the Trade Agreements Act,3 which expires June 12, 1940, may come up in Congress for renewal and probably will not be disposed of before March. This would impose an additional burden on the trade-agreements organization, involving the preparation of memoranda for Congressional committees [Page 772] and the answering of the large volume of correspondence to which the consideration of a question of this kind in Congress gives rise. Mr. Hawkins indicated that under such circumstances it would not be possible to undertake trade-agreement negotiations with Peru in the immediate future.
It was agreed, however, that further preliminary conversations might be held looking to the establishment of a basis for negotiations so as to be ready if it should become feasible and desirable at some future time to proceed with such negotiations, and it was decided that another meeting would be held on November 30.
- Approved June 12, 1934, 48 Stat. 943; extended by Joint Resolution of March 1, 1937, 50 Stat. 24.↩