Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, General: Political and Economic Matters, Volume II

560.AL/11–1445

The Secretary of State to All Diplomatic Officers Except Those in Argentina, Cuba, and Spain

Washington, November 14, 1945.

The Secretary of State encloses copies of a document entitled “Proposals for Expansion of World Trade and Employment”¹⁶ which was referred to in the Department’s circular telegram of November 2, 1945.¹⁷

Copies of this document will be transmitted to diplomatic missions in Washington upon a later date regarding which the Officer in Chargé will be informed in accordance with the Department’s circular telegram of November 5,¹⁷ and it is desired that copies be handed to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs as soon as possible after the missions have received clearance from the Department to do so.¹⁸ Advantage should be taken of the opportunity for an oral statement along the following lines:

The Proposals now presented are the result of many months of careful work and, although the details are presented for consideration by people everywhere as the work of technical experts within the United States Government, the principles underlying them carry the official endorsement of this Government.

As noted in the foreword by the Secretary of State the Proposals are presented for consideration in preparation for an International Conference on Trade and Employment which the United States Government, through its representatives on the appropriate organ of the United Nations, will propose be held not later than the summer of 1946. Representatives of the United Nations have met and laid the groundwork for future cooperation in the fields of currency and investment, food and agriculture, and civil aviation.¹⁹ There remains in the economic sphere, however, the necessity for early and effective cooperative action in the field of trade and employment.

The Government of the United States believes that the success of an international conference on trade and employment requires adequate preparation and as full agreement on basic principles as it may be possible to achieve in advance of such a conference. The specific proposals which are now being presented are intended to contribute in a practical way to such advance preparation and agreement. The Government of the United States hopes, therefore, that careful study will be given to these Proposals and that in due course the nations of the world will make known their views regarding them.

16. For text, see Department of State Bulletin, December 9, 1945, p. 918; for related material, see ibid., pp. 912–918.
17. Not printed.
17. Not printed.
18. A circular telegram of December 5, 1945, 8 a.m., gave the release date as December 6, and instructed the diplomatic officers to deliver the document on that date to the respective Foreign Ministers or Foreign Officers. On the same date the document was to be given to foreign diplomatic missions in Washington. (560. AL/12–545)
19. For documentation on the preliminary and exploratory discussions regarding international civil aviation and the Conference held at Chicago, November 1–December 7, 1944, see Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. ii, pp. 355 ff.