825.24/1623: Airgram
The Ambassador in Chile (Bowers) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 7—3 p.m.]
A−1462. Reference is made to the Department’s instruction No. 3631 of November 25, 1943, which refers to the Copper Agreement between the United States and Chile and shipments to be made from Chile under this agreement. The Embassy is carrying, in its control of copper exports, the shipments referred to in airgram A−138038 as being outside of quota which conforms to the Department’s instruction under reference. The Embassy has noted that the Department would find it of material assistance in establishing future requirements if prompt shipments were made upon the approval of the Department and the Embassy. Prompt shipment does not depend upon this Embassy or upon the Department’s approval of orders as it is necessary for the local agent to purchase the copper and file an application with the Ministerio de Economia y Comercio. As soon as this Embassy receives a copy of the application from the Ministerio, action is taken in accordance with recommendations from other Missions and/or the Department. The applications are then returned to the Ministerio but those applications do not receive final approval until the President of the Republic has issued a special decree. The Chilean Government requires that complete details regarding the end uses be supplied. It is therefore of utmost importance that other Missions supply this Embassy with this information covering each order. All of this requires considerable time and frequently requires additional time to coordinate shipping space.
- Dated November 6, 1943, not printed.↩