493.119/11–3050
Memorandum by Mr. Lucius D. Battle, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State
The Secretary received a memorandum from Mr. Dean Rusk on the matter about which Secretary Sawyer called him yesterday afternoon. The memorandum, which was cleared through S/S, concerned the advisability of placing an embargo on China.
Apparently, the memorandum missed somewhat the point which Mr. Sawyer had raised with Mr. Acheson. Mr. Sawyer had asked Mr. Acheson about the advisability of placing certain commodities under export control and then determining whether export licenses should be granted for those commodities when applications were applied for. The Secretary was unable to get in immediate contact with Mr. Rusk and went ahead and called Secretary Sawyer, basing his conversation on the memorandum which Mr. Rusk had sent him. Mr. Sawyer appeared satisfied and said he would talk to the Secretary before any action was taken to place the commodities under export control. He seemed to be interested in the Department’s reasoning on the embargo and assured the Secretary of further consultation before any steps were taken. He said that it would be necessary, in the event the items were put on the list, to have publicity on it.
At the 9:30 meeting this morning, the Secretary discussed this matter and it was decided that he should tell Secretary Sawyer that the Department concurred in the placing of these items under control.