Office of the Historian

811.20 (D) Regulations/869b: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)

Washington, December 10, 1940—6 p.m.

531. The Radio Bulletin of December 10 carries information in regard to a proclamation signed by the President89 placing under license exportation from the United States of iron and steel as defined in an Executive Order issued on that day;90 also the text of an announcement made by the White House on this subject.91 The action taken is described accurately in the text of the official announcements here and it is suggested that, if inquiries are made of you, you so state, emphasizing that the action taken rests upon the national defense requirements of the United States and that licenses for exports to destinations other than the British Empire and the Western Hemisphere will be granted for the present and in so far as the interests of national defense permit in amounts approximating usual or pre-war exports.

Hull
  1. Dated December 10, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. ii, p. 232.↩
  2. No.8607; ibid., p. 233.↩
  3. See press release issued by the Department of State, ibid., p. 232.↩