Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume IX, International Development and Economic Defense Policy; Commodities

166. Letter From the Chairman of the Board of Radio Corporation of America (Sarnoff) to President Johnson¹

New York, March 5, 1965.

My Dear Mr. President:

I call your attention to an urgent problem in which the national interest is heavily involved, particularly in the area of America’s balance of payments.

The French electronics industry, supported by the full resources of the DeGaulle government, is in direct competition with the American electronics industry over the adoption of World Standards for Color Television. The Electronics Industry Association, representing most American manufacturers in this field, has conducted an exhaustive technical investigation and confirmed the superiority of the American system over that proposed by the French.

The scope and dimensions of the conflict between the two systems are set forth in the attached letter from Dr. Engstrom, President of RCA, to the Secretary of Commerce.²

Of pivotal importance to American hopes of success is a clearance required from our Government. This would permit us to deal on an equal basis with France in seeking support from Russia. In this contest, the U.S.S.R. and its satellite countries might well cast the deciding votes.

Since last August, our representatives have sought this clearance in many meetings with appropriate authorities in the Departments of Commerce, Defense and State.

Each of these departments has been most cooperative, and each has advised us it has no objection to granting the necessary clearance. However, the Department of Commerce, which would be responsible for issuance of the formal authorization, has informed us that it cannot act because of objections raised by one undisclosed agency of our Government.

We have not been informed of the reason for denying clearance.

We can only surmise that it has been blocked through a misunderstanding of some security aspects in certain circuits of a color tape recorder. Yet, these circuits were developed as part of normal operations and are now in widespread commercial use.

In our frequent meetings with the Department of Defense, they have told us that these circuits are not of the type considered to be of strategic importance. Hundreds of tape recorders equipped with these circuits are already installed in nations in the Near and Far East, in Africa and South America, in Western Europe and Yugoslavia.

I turn now to you with this problem because I know you would not want a misunderstanding within government to deny American industry a major opportunity to increase its exports, to help our balance of payments and to secure world-wide acceptance of American Color Standards which are undeniably the best.

The specific action required from our Government is set forth on page 3 of Dr. Engstrom’s letter.³ Time is a vital factor since a decision on European color standards may be taken this very month in Vienna. Such a decision will be irrevocable.

With warm personal regards,

Sincerely,

David Sarnoff

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, TEL 9. No classification marking. An attached short covering letter from Sarnoff to Secretary Rusk, March 5, indicates that he was sending Rusk a copy of his letter to the President. Also attached is a letter from G. Griffith Johnson to Sarnoff, March 19, which thanked him for sending a copy of his letter to the President and concluded: “I trust that you find the recent interagency decision a satisfactory resolution of the matter.” Johnson was apparently referring to a recent interdepartmental meeting during which it was agreed that if the Soviet Union was seriously interested in buying the U.S. color television system, then the U.S. Government would also be willing to include the video recorders. U.S. officials believed that COCOM would probably approve export of the recorders as part of a larger package. RCA was to be informed of the U.S. decision on March 15. (E Bureau Staff Minutes, March 15; Washington National Records Center, E/CBA/REP Files: Lot 72 A 6248)
2. Dated February 5, not printed.
3. After arguing for a U.S. policy “actively to support the adoption of the United States color system on a worldwide basis,” Engstrom enumerated several things that the U.S. Government should do to implement this policy.