Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Eastern Europe, Volume XXV

43. Memorandum From the Minister to Romania (Thayer) to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant)¹

Washington, December 28, 1955.

SUBJECT

• Exchange of Trade Representatives with Rumania

The Rumanian Government on their own initiative have been pressing me on the subject of exchanging trade representatives to explore trade possibilities between our two countries. The nature of this representation, whether in the form of commerical attachés or trade delegations, has been left for further discussion.

Although it is obvious that trade with Rumania cannot be of any real commercial value to the United States, I believe this exchange should be approved for the following reasons:

1) It would open up many possibilities . . . to obtain information concerning Rumania and her economic situation not now available.

2) It would enable the United States to assert a control not now possible on the free-wheeling of U.S. citizens, like Mr. Garst who is now expanding his activities in Rumania to fields other than agriculture.

3) It would enable the United States to exploit the risks inevitable in the establishment of close relations between Rumania and the West.

4) It would open up opportunities for the United States to begin to show to the Rumanians how much more they could gain from reliance upon the United States than upon the Soviets.

In the light of the series of conversations I have been having with Rumanian officials, I believe that other advantages could be obtained on the basis of reciprocity were I to return to Rumania with the approval of the Department to explore this trade exchange further. They would consider this as something we are doing for them for which they would be willing to give us something in return—perhaps the reopening of a USIA information center.

On balance, and with full awareness of the advantages to be gained by the Rumanians, I believe the United States would wind up on the plus side of the ledger.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 411.6641/12–2855. Secret. Merchant discussed this memorandum with Dulles and gave his view of the question of trade with Romania in a covering memorandum from him to Beam and Stevens, January 4, 1956, which reads:

   “Regarding the attached memorandum from Bob Thayer, I discussed the subject briefly with the Secretary after he had seen Bob. I explained to the Secretary my reasons for believing that under existing circumstances the exchange of trade representatives with Rumania seemed to me to promise little value and to risk being distinctly misleading to some of our allies. The Secretary indicated his agreement with me and said that whereas this subject had been briefly discussed with Mr. Thayer when he saw him, he had not given Mr. Thayer any encouragement.”