348. Editorial Note
At the United Nations, Secretary Herter discussed with British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd on September 18 the possible revision of the COCOM list. According to the memorandum of conversation, September 21, the discussion went as follows:
“At a meeting with Lloyd this morning, the Secretary raised the question of the revision of the COCOM list contemplated by the UK. The Secretary said he hoped that the UK was not frozen on this matter and would be willing to discuss it further at a technical level. Lloyd said that the Department had asked the UK to consider shortening the list and selecting certain items which would be submitted at the October 1 meeting and leaving other items for examination by an Anglo-American committee. Lloyd said he had promised to consider this matter sympathetically.”
Lloyd then said he felt it desirable to delay the whole matter since he did not want it mixed up in the elections. He instructed his staff to seek agreement of other governments to postpone consideration of the items in view of these special circumstances. He said this was very much a Cabinet matter and is the subject of discussion with the UK Board of Trade.” (Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199)
As Hood told Dillon September 22, upon Lloyd’s return to London the Foreign Secretary found it impractical to postpone the whole COCOM review, but the British Government agreed that “further large-scale public disagreement between the U.S. and U.K.” should be avoided. Hood stated that the British Government would like to suggest a total of 12 or 13 items for consideration rather than the 10 which the U.S. Government had suggested. Dillon agreed with that proposal as a “reasonable number.” Hood said that the British hoped that 8 of these items could be agreed upon in the ensuing review and the remaining items could be the subject of bilateral discussions early in 1960 after the completion of the present COCOM review. (Memorandum of discussion, September 22; ibid.)