800.554/12–144

The Chargé in Brazil (Donnelly) to the Secretary of State

No. 18958

Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Embassy’s telegram No. 4222 of November 27, 1944,71 reporting the approval by President Vargas of the synthetic rubber agreement,72 and to previous correspondence relating to the progress of the negotiations on this subject.

In the course of the consideration of the agreement for the use by the Brazilian rubber industry of the synthetic product, a number of objections had to be overcome. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed several alterations, the principal one designed to reduce the consumption of crude rubber to seven hundred tons, which would have had the effect of negating the entire purpose of the agreement. Through representations made by the Embassy and the Rubber Development Corporation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was persuaded to withdraw this proposal. The agreement was then approved by the Ministry of Finance and forwarded to the President.

The Embassy followed the matter closely and was able to expedite the approval of the agreement by the President in its final form early this week.

Respectfully yours,

Walter J. Donnelly
  1. Not printed.
  2. The agreement was formalized by an exchange of notes dated December 22, 1944; see infra.