DEPARTMENT OF STATE Memorandum of Conversation
DATE: April 21, 1952
PARTICIPANTS: The Secretary Mr. George Sloan, President of the U.S. Council of the International Chamber of Commerce An Assistant to Mr. Sloan Willard L. Thorp (E)
COPIES TO: S ARA ITP OFD E - Mrs. Morgan
Mr. Sloan said that he particularly wished to see the Secretary with reference to the situation in Brazil. The American section of the International Chamber of Commerce for some time has felt that it ought to do more to encourage the flow of private investment abroad. It had selected Brazil as a particularly favorable spot and had prepared a rather elaborate report. The members were eager to do what they could to demonstrate the feasibility of private investment. He said that the decree had come as a bombshell and obviously had shattered their plans. However, they were still hoping that it was possible to get a modification which would permit them once more to feel optimistic concerning investment in Brazil. He realized that the State Department had not been able to come out strongly on this matter, but hoped that his own public statement had been helpful. His immediate reason for calling was that he had heard that the Secretary was planning to visit Brazil, and he wanted to say that he was hopeful that one of the things which the Secretary could achieve would be to get this whole matter straightened out. He wanted the Secretary to know of the interest of the International Chamber of Commerce.
The Secretary described briefly our very real concern with the matter and our hope that it could be corrected. The Secretary said that at this point he was not specifically committed to the trip to Brazil, but that he did hope that it would come off.
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Mr. Sloan then said that he had had lunch with Mr. McKittrick and Mr. Love, and had learned of a projected corporation in which American banking and Brazilian banking concerns were going to put in something like $5 million which would be used to promote and encourage private investment in Brazil. This enterprise also was hung up until the decree matter was settled.
The Secretary then said that he would like to take the opportunity of indicating to Mr. Sloan his great concern over the threats that there were to American trade policy and outlined the problem briefly. He pointed out that in many lines the present percentages of imports were substantially below those of pre-war levels, and therefore it was growing difficult for the foreign producers to recapture their old markets without being exposed to restrictive measures. He outlined the tuna fish situation as an illustration.
Mr. Sloan said that he thought that the Secretary had put the case in a most effective way, and that he had been delighted with the newspaper reports of a recent press statement which he had made. He said that his group had been a strong supporter of the American policy ever since the initiation of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements program. He thought the action of Congress with respect to cheese was most unfortunate, and that he expected to be quite embarrassed in the international meeting which he was soon to attend.
In a subsequent talk with Mr. Thorp, Mr. Sloan said that he thought that this trade problem was so important that the Secretary ought to devote an entire speech to it, and that Mr. Sloan and his associates would be very glad to be helpful in developing a presentation which might appeal to the business community.
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