Office of the Historian

190. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, November 19, 1969, 12:15 p.m.

PARTICIPANTS

  • Ambassador Corneliu Bogdan
  • Helmut Sonnenfeldt
  • C. Fred Bergsten

SUBJECT

  • Romanian Accession to GATT

Ambassador Bogdan called on Mr. Sonnenfeldt and Mr. Bergsten to emphasize Romaniaʼs desire for early conclusion of its application for GATT membership. The issue had a great deal of political importance for Romania. His government appreciated the support already given the application by the United States and hoped that the issue could be decided at the meeting of the GATT working party next week.

The Ambassador understood the reasons why the United States was holding up approval over the Romanian “entry fee.” However, he was dubious that the European Community would agree to significantly relax its quantitative restrictions against Romanian exports. Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for Romania to commit itself to any specific rate of import growth. His government was willing to accept the language proposed by the Community to govern Romaniaʼs accession. He thought this was a sufficient “entry fee.” It would not represent a precedent for other countries just as Polandʼs terms of entry were not a precedent for Romania.

Mr. Bergsten replied that the U.S. strongly supported Romanian accession. Our present position was admittedly delaying the process. However, it was aimed at maximizing the real economic gains to Romania of GATT membership by using the occasion to attempt to persuade the EC to liberalize its quotas on Romanian goods. We could not promise success in that effort, but we felt that it justified some little delay.

The Ambassador was grateful for the consideration given his views and reiterated his governmentʼs interest in early resolution of the issues.2

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 702, Country Files—Europe, Romania, Vol. II 9/69–Jun 70. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Bergsten. A notation on the memorandum indicates Kissinger saw it.↩
  2. Romania joined the GATT on November 11, 1971, following 3 years of negotiations.↩