77. Letter From the Secretary of Commerce (Weeks) to the Under Secretary of State (Hoover)1
Dear Herb: As suggested in our phone conversation last Friday I am writing to indicate those aspects of East-West trade which are bothering us at this time. You will recall, perhaps, the difficulties we have had in respect to copper shortages during this current year, which resulted in establishing a quota on scrap exports substantially below the rate at which this material was exported during the past year. While our economy has been suffering from an inadequate supply of copper and a rise in price from 30¢ to 45¢ a pound, Britain primarily, along with a few other European countries, has licensed exports to the Soviets of copper in the form of wire to the extent of 111,000 metric tons during the past 12½ months. We feel, and we have some German support for this position, that immediate and strong efforts should be made in COCOM to put an embargo on the export of copper of all forms by all COCOM participants to communist countries.
We have just learned also that the United Kingdom has recently obtained COCOM permission to use the quotas of other COCOM countries to ship British-built jeeps to the Soviet bloc, and that COCOM has agreed to the transfer of 38 four-wheel drive automotive vehicles from the unallocated reserve quota in addition to 85 units from other country quotas. Furthermore, we have a report to the effect that a shipment of 100 tons of British jeeps has just transitted the Bosphorous for the destination of Constanza, Romania. Our acquiescence to these shipments by the United Kingdom is highly inconsistent with our recent action of suspending from export privileges two officials of the Willys–Overland Corporation because of their acceptance of an order for 100 jeeps shipped to Syria but ultimately transshipped to Romania.
Even more disconcerting is the continuation of unlimited quotas of many strategic items on International List II simply because none of the member countries would agree to reasonable quotas on such items as large horizontal boring mills of the elephant variety and many other machine tools considered as highly strategic and under embargo for shipment from the United States, as well as unlimited shipments of merchant vessels by European members of COCOM. This has rendered international control more of a myth than a reality.
[Page 270]Our problem is, should we now, in the light of the unproductive outcome of the recent Geneva Conference, support the consideration of a realistic control program in COCOM for early deliberation or, alternatively, should we support or ask for an early CG meeting to consider the whole East-West trade program in its broadest aspects? Consideration of these unsatisfactory situations either in COCOM or CG would have our support. A recent statement to the Herald Tribune Washington Bureau by Senator Carl Curtis2 underlines the possibility of increasing the difficulties for the Administration if we are unsuccessful in obtaining international support for our East-West trade control objectives.
I assume that the CFEP will shortly receive a report from the Secretary of State in order to complete its consideration of the East-West trade problem on which CFEP withheld judgment until after the Geneva Conference. I look forward to having the benefit of your views on these matters.
Sincerely yours,