263. Memorandum From President Kennedy to Secretary of State Rusk and the Under Secretary of State (Ball)0

The preparations for our negotiations with Europe under the Trade Expansion Act are already under way and will be increasing in tempo and scope. I am very much concerned that we do everything we can to bring these important negotiations to a fruitful conclusion. In order to do this, we must make sure that all the energies and skills available in the government for this task are coordinated and focused on it. The Secretary of State has the responsibility of providing Governor Herter, the Trade Negotiator, with broad foreign policy guidance and I want to be sure that the Department is organized to enable him to perform this task adequately. Further, the Department must be continuously aware of the need for putting these negotiations in their proper relation to our other ongoing negotiations in Europe in the military, monetary and political spheres. In this connection, I urge that all our European embassies be made aware of the great importance that the government attaches to these negotiations and their own heavy responsibility for them. I suggest you re-examine the staffing of our major European embassies with these responsibilities in mind and strengthen them wherever necessary to enable them to perform these tasks effectively.

I consider it equally important to bring all trade negotiations with the European countries into connection with the over-all negotiation we are entering into, so that no uncoordinated individual arrangements on particular products or with particular countries are made.

I would like the Under Secretary of State to assume personal responsibility for the State Department’s activities in this sphere and to keep me closely in touch with the progress of activities and any problems that may arise through the Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs.

John Kennedy
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, FTU 4 US/TEA. Confidential.