FOREIGN ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL POLICY


837


   2) That you ask the heads of the agencies concerned* to- meet with
 your staff assistant and thereafter to work with his coordinating
 guidance in order to insure the fulfillment of assignment and the
 continuance of your leadership, in the formulation of policy recom-
 mendations to you. To do this the group should:
   a) Isolate the issues and then formulate recommendations for you
on the basic substantive policy decisions to be made (principally
regarding imports, foreign assistance and foreign investment).
   b) Prepare an outline of the specific economic areas within which
 action needs to be taken to carry out the basic policy decisions (e.g.,
 the fields of tariff policy, agricultural policy, shipping, travel, etc.)
   1) Make recommendations concerning the formation of a Public
Advisory Committee to advise the President on possible solutions of
the "dollar gap" problem.
   d) Recommend a program for explaining to the Congress and the
American public the substance and the significance of the "dollar gap"
problem-a -program which would impress upon them       the policy
alternatives which must be frankly faced.
   In order to provide personnel necessary for the staff assistant to
perform his functions, the heads of agencies concerned should be pre-
pared to designate high level officials from their organizations as re-
quired and requested by the staff assistant.
   3) That you ask your staff assistant to recommend to you what
agencies should be given primary responsibilities for implementation
of parts of the total problem in accordance with the broad policies
laid down, and to recommend to those agencies the interdepartmental
coordinating machinery imost appropriate in each instance. There
already exist interdepartmental councils and committees such -as the
NAC and the Trade Agreements Committee which are immediately
available for working effectively on various aspects of the total prob-
lem. Consideration is also being given to the establishment in the near
future of a specialized Trade and Commodity Policy Committee to
coordinate policy with respect to the tariff and to quotas and trade
barriers generally. In addition to these instruments, your staff as-
sistant will probably find that ad hoc groups, given proper assign-
ments, could most appropriately concentrate on many of the individual
problems which will arise.
  I believe that the Executive Branch-organization described in this
memorandum satisfactorily combines flexibility, Presidential direc-
tion, and respect for line relationships with the capabilities of an
experienced staff assistant who has your confidence and who has the
skill required to stimulate and maintain teamwork among the respon-
sible agencies.
                                                    DAx AcdlsON
  *Those listed in (1) above except the Postmaster General and the Attorney
General (who will be consulted as legal questions arise). [Footnote in the
source
text.]
     496-362--77----54