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protect the domestic economy from an excessive drain of those scarce commodities and the future inflation in domestic petroleum prices which could result therefrom.

The control system was being established, he said, for manufactured gas and synthetic natural gas because such gases could be added to or substituted for natural gas, and might also be substituted for butane, propane and natural gas liquids which were subject to export controls. Secretary Morton stated that in view of the domestic natural gas shortage, it would be inappropriate to continue the unrestricted export of artificial gases.

See Dept. of Commerce News, G 75 - 173, Sept. 30, 1975, and Fed. Reg., Vol. 40, No. 191, Oct. 1, 1975, pp. 45159-45162. For resulting revisions to 15 CFR 370.2 and 377.6, see ibid., at pp. 45160–45162.

Grains Moratorium

On November 14, 1975, Ambassador Robert J. McCloskey, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, responded to an inquiry from Congressman Paul Findley regarding the legal basis for a request made by the United States Government to the Government of Poland to suspend temporarily purchases of United States grains. Ambassador McCloskey's letter stated, in part:

this request did not purport to be legally binding or enforceable under United States law. A request of this nature is within the authority of the President under the Constitution. It has never been doubted that an aspect of this constitutional authority is the authority to make requests of foreign governments in the national interest; indeed, the President could hardly fulfill his constitutional responsibilities without such authority. For example, the request to foreign steel producers to restrain steel exports to the United States was held to be authorized under the constitutional power of the Executive in Consumers Union of the U.S., Inc. v. Kissinger, 506 F.2d 136 (D.C. 1974), even when the producers' undertakings to comply were set forth in a written arrangement.

In an earlier letter, dated Oct. 8, 1975, to Congressman Findley, Ambassador McCloskey had pointed out that the United States had not imposed export controls on sales of grain to Poland, but had requested the Polish Government to refrain from making new purchases until after a review of the supply-demand situation following the issuance of the October crop report, and the Polish Government was complying with the request. He said that the request was made because it appeared that Polish authorities might be seeking more than normal amounts of grain from the United States as a result of a shortage of grain in the Soviet Union, and a temporary moratorium on Polish purposes seemed prudent

until the U.S. crop outlook and overall foreign demand could be more definitely assured. Dept. of State File Nos. P75 0184-483 and P75 0154-2208.

Humanitarian Aid

On September 9, 1975, Robert H. Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, presented a joint State-Treasury-Commerce statement before the Subcommittee on International Trade and Commerce of the House Committee on International Relations concerning private humanitarian aid to Viet-Nam. The statement set forth the Administration's position on private humanitarian assistance to Viet-Nam supplied within the context of the export and foreign assets controls in force against North and South Viet-Nam. After reviewing the history of the embargo imposed over U.S. exports to "Communistcontrolled areas of Viet-Nam" in 1958 and the Foreign Assets Control Regulations applied to North Viet-Nam in 1964, Mr. Miller stated:

When Phnom Penh and Saigon fell in April 1975, our economic controls were extended to Cambodia and South Viet-Nam. . . . the purpose of these controls is to deny to the present regimes the use of Cambodian and South Vietnamese assets held in the United States; to prevent them from extracting under duress from private Cambodian and Vietnamese nationals their assets in the United States; to keep Cambodian and Vietnamese assets in the United States frozen for possible use in the satisfaction of private claims of American citizens for losses of property in those areas, pending further determinations to be made with respect to future U.S. relationships with those countries; and to deny these countries the benefits of trading with the United States.

During the first half of this year, we received several license applications from private agencies to authorize shipments of assistance to Viet-Nam. The fighting in South Viet-Nam was reaching a climax in that period, and action on the applications was therefore temporarily delayed. In July, several applications to send strictly humanitarian items were approved. At the same time, a number of other applications involving equipment more of an economic assistance nature were not approved.

These latest decisions have been made within the context of the Administration's stated policy that the responsibility for providing reconstruction aid to the present regimes in Saigon and Phnom Penh has passed to those countries which assisted those regimes to come to power by force of arms but that we are prepared to consider requests for humanitarian assistance on a case-by-case basis. Humanitarian aid is construed as being limited to items traditionally considered to be of humanitarian character, such as medical supplies, drugs, food, school equip

ment, and school supplies.* It is anticipated that in each case in which a license is issued, the humanitarian agencies providing the supplies will carry out end-use checks through their resident or visiting personnel.

We have thus recently licensed the shipment of medical supplies, foodstuffs, school supplies, and pediatric drugs to North and South Viet-Nam. Simultaneously, we denied a license to ship drilling machines, lathes, electric furnaces, and similar industrial items to Viet-Nam. While this machinery was said to be intended to be used to produce surgical prosthetic appliances, it was quite clear that the machinery was of an industrial character and could be used to produce all sorts of commodities.

We also denied an application to ship machinery to produce wood screws, metal button blanks, and berets. This machinery was said to be intended for use in cooperative workshops. A significant amount of North Viet-Nam's industrial output comes from cooperative workshops, and it is evident that this shipment was for economic assistance purposes rather than strictly humanitarian purposes. To the extent these workshops may employ some handicapped workers, there is a charitable aspect, but it is basically true that the manufacture of screws, clothing, and buttons is an industrial undertaking and does not qualify as traditional humanitarian assistance.

In addition, we have disapproved shipments of agricultural implements and fishing equipment because these, too, were felt to be economic in nature. The exception for such equipment that was authorized in 1973 was made in the relatively hopeful atmosphere that existed in the months following the signing of the Paris agreements.

As to the future, we will continue to look at all requests for private humanitarian assistance on a case-by-case basis in light of the circumstances of the time, the scope and nature of the proposed assistance, and the attitudes and actions of both North and South Viet-Nam.

*Cf. Articles 23, 55, et al, Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 6 U.N.T.S. 3516. [Footnote in original.]

For the full text of the joint State-Treasury-Commerce statement, see Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. LXXIII, No. 1895, Oct. 20, 1975, pp. 601-603.

Multilateral Trade

Regional Cooperation

The United States and 34 other participating states signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), adopted at Helsinki on August 1, 1975. The following are excerpts from its guidelines in the matter of international trade:

COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES

The participating states,

General provisions

Conscious of the growing role of international trade as one of the most important factors in economic growth and social progress,

Recognizing that trade represents an essential sector of their cooperation, and bearing in mind that the provisions contained in the above preamble apply in particular to this sector,

Considering that the volume and structure of trade among the participating states do not in all cases correspond to the possibilities created by the current level of their economic, scientific and technological development,

are resolved to promote, on the basis of the modalities of their economic cooperation, the expansion of their mutual trade in goods and services, and to ensure conditions favorable to such development;

recognize the beneficial effects which can result for the development of trade from the application of most-favored-nation treatment;

will encourage the expansion of trade on as broad a multilateral basis as possible, thereby endeavoring to utilize the various economic and commercial possibilities;

recognize the importance of bilateral and multilateral intergovernmental and other agreements for the long-term development of trade;

note the importance of monetary and financial questions for the development of international trade, and will endeavor to deal with them with a view to contributing to the continuous expansion of trade;

will endeavor to reduce or progressively eliminate all kinds of obstacles to the development of trade;

will foster a steady growth of trade while avoiding as far as possible abrupt fluctuations in their trade;

consider that their trade in various products should be conducted in such a way as not to cause or threaten to cause serious injury-and should the situation arise, market disruption-in domestic markets for these products and in particular to the detriment of domestic producers of like or directly competitive products; as regards the concept of market disruption, it is understood that it should not be invoked in a way inconsistent with the relevant provisions of their international agreements; if they resort to safeguard measures, they will do so in conformity with their commitments in this field arising from international agreements to which they are parties and will take account of the interests of the parties directly concerned;

will give due attention to measures for the promotion of trade and the diversification of its structure;

note that the growth and diversification of trade would contribute to widening the possibilities of choice of products;

consider it appropriate to create favorable conditions for the participation of firms, organizations and enterprises in the development of trade.

The participating states,

Business contacts and facilities

Conscious of the importance of the contribution which an improvement of business contacts, and the accompanying growth of confidence in business relationships, could make to the development of commercial and economic relations,

will take measures further to improve conditions for the expansion of contacts between representatives of official bodies, of the different organizations, enterprises, firms and banks concerned with foreign trade, in particular, where useful, between sellers and users of products and services, for the purpose of studying commercial possibilities, concluding contracts, ensuring their implementation and providing aftersales services;

will encourage organizations, enterprises and firms concerned with foreign trade to take measures to accelerate the conduct of business negotiations;

will further take measures aimed at improving working conditions of representatives of foreign organizations, enterprises, firms and banks concerned with external trade, particularly as follows:

-by providing the necessary information, including information on legislation and procedures relating to the establishment and operation of permanent representation by the above mentioned bodies;

-by examining as favorably as possible requests for the establishment of permanent representation and of offices for this purpose, including, where appropriate, the opening of joint offices by two or more firms;

-by encouraging the provision, on conditions as favorable as possible and equal for all representatives of the above-mentioned bodies, of hotel accommodation, means of communication, and of other facilities normally required by them, as well as of suitable business and residential premises for purposes of permanent representation;

recognize the importance of such measures to encourage greater participation by small and medium sized firms in trade between participating states. Economic and commercial information

The participating states,

Conscious of the growing role of economic and commercial information in the development of international trade,

Considering that economic information should be of such a nature as to allow adequate market analysis and to permit the preparation of medium and long term forecasts, thus contributing to the establishment of a continuing flow of trade and a better utilization of commercial possibilities.

Expressing their readiness to improve the quality and increase the quantity and supply of economic and relevant administrative information,

Considering that the value of statistical information on the international level depends to a considerable extent on the possibility of its comparability, will promote the publication and dissemination of economic and commercial information at regular intervals and as quickly as possible, in particular:

-statistics concerning production, national income, budget, consumption and productivity;

-foreign trade statistics drawn up on the basis of comparable classification including breakdown by product with indication of volume and value, as well as country of origin or destination;

-laws and regulations concerning foreign trade;

-information allowing forecasts of development of the economy to assist in trade promotion, for example, information on the general orientation of national economic plans and programs;

-other information to help businessmen in commercial contacts, for example, periodic directories, lists, and where possible, organizational charts of firms and organizations concerned with foreign trade;

will in addition to the above encourage the development of the exchange of economic and commercial information through, where appropriate, joint commissions for economic, scientific and technical cooperation, national and joint chambers of commerce, and other suitable bodies;

will support a study, in the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, of the possibilities of creating a multilateral system of notification of laws and regulations concerning foreign trade and changes therein;

will encourage international work on the harmonization of statistical nomenclatures, notably in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

The participating states,

Marketing

Recognizing the importance of adapting production to the requirement of foreign markets in order to ensure the expansion of international trade.

Conscious of the need of exporters to be as fully familiar as possible with and take account of the requirements of potential users,

will encourage organizations, enterprises and firms concerned with foreign trade to develop further the knowledge and techniques required for effective marketing;

will encourage the improvement of conditions for the implementation of measures to promote trade and to satisfy the needs of users in respect of imported products, in particular through market research and advertising measures as well as, where useful, the establishment of supply facilities, the furnishing of spare parts, the functioning of after sales services, and the training of the necessary local technical personnel;

will encourage international cooperation in the field of trade promotion, including marketing, and the work undertaken on these subjects within the

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