632.116/8–144
The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 12.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Embassy’s despatch No. 16868 of July 13, and to report that my Economic Counselor discussed the matter a few days ago with Dr. Gastão Vidigal, Director of the Export-Import Department of the Bank of Brazil, who has just returned to his office from a long illness.
Dr. Vidigal told him that it was not the intention of the Bank of Brazil or the Brazilian Government to amplify the controls over the letters of credit for purchases abroad, and that the Bank of Brazil [Page 663] has denied only one application for a letter of credit for the importation of merchandise from the United States, that product being white cement which the Bank stated was available in adequate quantities in Brazil. He said that the Bank of Brazil has recently denied two applications for letters of credit for the importation of luxury goods from Argentina.
My Economic Counselor reminded Dr. Vidigal of the potential danger of such controls over imports into Brazil from the United States, to which Dr. Vidigal replied that we had no reason to be concerned because he intended to restrict the application of the controls and that ultimately the service would be used only for statistical purposes.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy for Economic Affairs