FOREIGN ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL POLICY


existing contracts or commitments required in the "urgent national
interest", and on July 14, 1949 the United Kingdom announced inten-
tion to make a reduction in dollar imports of $400,000,000 or about 26
percent from the 1948 level. On July 18 the Foreign Ministers of the
dominions except South Africa and Canada recommended to their
Governments action comparable to that of the United Kingdom. The
United Kingdom action was regarded by the United States as consti-
tuting intensification of restrictions of a kind which would call for
consultation with the CP's under Article XII-4-(b) of GATT but
in view of the forthcoming financial talks it was considered desirable
to defer the consultation until after the talks. The British submitted
a letter to the CP's then in session at Annecy, indicating that only
interim measures had so far been adopted and expressing willingness
to provide particulars, when available, on the basis of which consulta-
tion, if desired, could proceed. (CP.3/68)
  Subsequently, the Chairman of the CP's proposed to place this
consultation on the agenda of the Fourth Session without further
procedural steps, but the United States suggested that a circular
inquiry be sent to the CP's asking their approval of such a postpone-
ment. This suggestion was followed (GATT/AIR/17) and the
United States replied before December 31, as requested, that it had
no objection to deferring the consultation on the understanding that
the item would be on the Fourth Session agenda. A majority of C P's
have presumably so indicated as the item appears on the preliminary
agenda.
  The Department requested its missions to send in information on
measures of intensification instituted by the United Kingdom, India,
Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Ceylon some time ago. Replies
from this circular and other information available leave large gaps
in our information as to what has actually taken place, so that it is
not possible at this stage to ,assemble all of the basic data concerning
the means by which the different countries have intensified restrictions
or the extent of the restrictions. The United Kingdom will apparently
effect a reduction of about 13 percent in its dollar purchases in the
year ending July 1, 1950, as compared with 1948, and has published
a commodity breakdown of its planned purchases. The fact that
Australia, New Zealand, ,and Ceylon have no lists of commodities
which will or which will not in principle be considered for licenses to
import from the United States or other hard-currency countries and
do not even publish the overall amounts of dollars to be made available,
complicates evaluation of their restriction. Further both Australia
and New Zealand have stated that they will try to save dollars for the
sterling area by expanding exports to the United States and, if neces-


735