46. Minutes of Meeting of the Balance of Payments Advisory Committee1
The Balance of Payments Advisory Committee of the Department of Commerce met at 2:30 p.m. on February 26, 1965 in Room 5855 of the Department of Commerce.
The Secretary of Commerce opened the meeting by outlining briefly the legal basis of such advisory committees and by making some general comments about the balance of payments voluntary program for the business community.2 He suggested that Mr. McQuade act as the Secretary of the Advisory Committee and then asked Mr. Nickerson, who had been designated as Chairman of the Advisory Committee, to preside.
There was considerable discussion of how to get maximum business cooperation and of what kind of a reporting system would meet the needs of the Government without unduly burdening participants in the voluntary program. The consensus arising out of the discussion favored a program which would ask the chief executive officer to make a personal commitment to achieve a net gain in the balance of payments performance of his company. He would be asked (a) to set up a balance of payments ledger for his company, (b) establish a dollar figure for improvement in 1965 over its 1964 performance and, (c) thereafter, be free to achieve that target by such means as the company might choose for itself out of the various available techniques. It became clear that the Advisory Committee felt the key to success lies (1) in obtaining a personal commitment from the chief executive officer of each participating company to achieve a target of improvement in its balance of payments performance and (2) in getting them to set satisfactory targets and achieve them.
It was pointed out that prospects for getting cooperation in the voluntary program would be improved by minimizing formalities and by asking for as little technical information as might be reasonably needed. There was considerable discussion of the amount of detail which businesses [Page 120] should be asked to supply in any questionnaire or other government form.
The Committee then considered the merits of a system of prior notification and consultation with the Department of Commerce on larger direct investment transactions. The system of asking for an overall result did not make it essential to review separately any one element (including direct investment) of a company’s overall accounts. Therefore, it was recommended that there be no organized system of notification and consultation but that companies be asked to scrutinize direct investment transactions and seek to minimize the balance of payments effects of any such investments.
There followed discussion of certain specialized factors, such as the less developed countries, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Thereafter, the Secretary briefly reviewed the consultation held to date between the Department and companies contemplating significant overseas investment projects.
The Committee then adjourned.
Secretary
- Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 40, Records of the Executive Secretariat, Office of the Secretary, 1965–1966: FRC 71 A 6617, Balance of Payments Committee for the Department of Commerce, January–June. No classification marking. An attached list of participants is not printed; however, all members of the Balance of Payments Advisory Committee (listed in Document 44) except Moore attended. Others in attendance included: Secretary Connor, Assistant Secretary (EA) Andrew Brimmer, Assistant Secretary (DIB) Thomas G. Wyman, National Export Expansion Coordinator Daniel Goldy, Assistant to the Secretary Lawrence C. McQuade, and George F. James of the Socony Mobil Oil Company, Inc.↩
- See Documents 44 and 45.↩