740.00112A EW/11–1844: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State
to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
Washington, November 18,
1944.
9734. 1. Reference is made to General Ruling No. 11,2 as amended, issued by the Treasury
Department under the Trading with the Enemy Act, which was sent in our
telegram no. 1494 of April 9, 1942, and to telegram no. 3169 of July 10,
1942,3 transmitting
instructions to be forwarded to the Missions in the European neutral
countries relative to the standard of conduct under General Ruling No. 11 to
be followed by concerns in the European neutral countries subject to United
States jurisdiction.
2. We have received several inquiries from our missions in the neutral
countries concerning the policy which this Government will adopt with
respect to communications and transactions between U.S. concerns and persons
located outside the U.S. and persons and firms located in enemy territory,
as defined in General Ruling No. 11, after the liberation of such territory
by the armed forces of the United Nations. The message quoted below, which
we desire to send to the missions in the London Coordination Area,4
sets forth the policy which Treasury and the Department propose to adopt
with reference to the relaxation of our trading with the enemy restrictions.
Before this message is sent, however, it is requested that you discuss the
policy outlined therein with the British, in order that their views may be
taken into consideration and our policies made as uniform as possible. An
urgent reply is requested. We expect to send similar instructions to our
Missions in Latin America as soon as we have received your comments on this
cable.
3. The proposed message to our Missions in the neutral countries, in
substance, is as follows:
- “(a) Inquiries have recently been
received concerning the policy which this Government will adopt
with respect to communications and transactions between United
States concerns located outside the United States and persons
and firms located in countries defined as
[Page 199]
enemy territory under General
Ruling No. 11 after the liberation of such countries by the
armed forces of the United Nations.
- “(b) This Government will take steps to
restore facilities for communicating and dealing with persons
and firms located in countries which are included in the
definition of enemy territory in General Ruling No. 11 as soon
after the liberation of any such country by Allied armed forces
as conditions permit. Obviously, however, special consideration
will have to be given to the case of Germany and Japan and
nothing in this message should be construed as applying to
Germany or Japan. Based upon our experience in France and Italy,
it appears that personal communications between the liberated
countries and the United States and the United Kingdom will be
permitted shortly after liberation. The second step will
probably be to permit business communications but to limit such
communications to those exchanging information, ascertaining
facts, or relating to support remittances under General Licenses
nos. 32, 32A and 33. Transactional communications will be
permitted at some later date after the liberated country has had
an opportunity to adopt and coordinate effective internal and
trading with the enemy controls. At the appropriate time, the
U.S. Treasury will amend General Ruling No. 11 to remove
liberated United Nations from the definition of enemy territory
(as in the case of France, which was so deleted on November 4,
1944). In the case of countries which have declared war against
the United States (other than Germany and Japan), however, the
U.S. Treasury will probably merely exempt financial and
commercial communications with such countries from the
prohibitions of General Ruling No. 11 without removing the
country from the definition of enemy territory. For example, the
Treasury Department issued Public Circular No. 25 on October 17,
1944, whereby any communication of a financial, commercial or
business character with persons in liberated Italy, as well as
any act or transaction involving such communication, and any act
or transaction on behalf of a person within liberated Italy, are
exempted from General Ruling No. 11. The practical effect of
either of these actions will be that communications and
transactions between the United States and the liberated country
will be subject only to the provisions of Executive Order No.
8389,5 as amended, (the
‘freezing’ Order) and will no longer be subject to the special
prohibitions imposed by General Ruling No. 11.
- “(c) While there may be exceptions, it
appears that the resumption of mail and telecommunication
services between liberated countries and the neutral countries
will not occur until sometime after such services have been
restored between the liberated country and the United States or
the United Kingdom.
- “(d) You may inform U.S. concerns
located within your country that they are authorized to engage
in communications and transactions involving persons or firms
located within liberated countries without further license at
such time as the U.S. Treasury Department has either amended
General Ruling No. 11 to exclude the liberated country from the
definition of enemy territory or has exempted financial and
commercial communications with such country from the
prohibitions of General Ruling No. 11. Such concerns should be
advised that they should not engage in any transactions based
upon
[Page 200]
instructions
originating in, or received from, liberated countries during the
time such countries were under the control of the enemy, but
should require confirmation of such instructions after the
country is liberated since instructions emanating from countries
during the time of enemy control may well have been issued under
duress.
- “(e) As indicated above, it is probable
that facilities for communications and private trade between
liberated countries and the neutral countries will not be
available until sometime after the Treasury has taken action
with respect to General Ruling No. 11. Pending the restoration
of such facilities, you may, in your discretion, permit U.S.
concerns in your country to communicate through your pouch
facilities with sister companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates
in liberated countries for the purpose of transmitting business
information such as instructions necessary to preserve the
assets or maintain personnel of U.S. concerns located in the
liberated countries. This service may be made available even
before the Treasury has taken action with respect to General
Ruling No. 11 if U.S. diplomatic missions have been reopened in
the liberated countries. You should, of course, avoid favoring
one U.S. concern over another. We will appreciate being informed
of any significant information which may develop from the use of
your confidential facilities for this purpose.
- “(f) You will be kept advised of
further developments with respect to the removal of areas from
the prohibitions of General Ruling No. 11.[”]
4. It is assumed that you will consult with the British authorities through
the Joint Advisory Committee on Licensing. In so doing, you should bear the
following points in mind:
- (a)
- The resumption of communications between liberated territories and
the outside world is a matter for decision in the first instance by
the military authorities and the agencies, such as the Combined
Civil Affairs Committee, which are related to the combined military
command.
- (b)
- Since the function of the Joint Advisory Committee is to provide a
forum for the discussion of matters of joint concern arising in the
application of trading with the enemy legislation to British and
American concerns located in foreign countries, we assume that the
discussions in this committee will deal only with this aspect of the
problem. If the British question other aspects of the problem
discussed in the proposed telegram, you should report the British
position in detail without attempting to resolve any conflict of
views without further instructions.
