Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 59 Part 2.djvu/973

 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [59 STAT. agreement under Section 3 (c) of the Lend-Lease Act, under which this Government will furnish non-military supplies as straight lend- lease aid to your Government to the extent provided therein. I should therefore like to propose that the obligation in Mr. Acheson's letter to replace articles provided as reciprocal aid which have previously been purchased abroad and imported into Belgian territory should not apply to articles hereafter made available to this Government as reciprocal aid. With respect to such articles transferred as reciprocal aid by the Government of Belgium to the United States or its armed forces prior to the date of the signing of the Agreement under Section 3 (c) of the Lend-Lease Act, I should like to propose that final action with respect to replacement be deferred until the final determination of the terms and conditions upon which mutual aid has been provided and received by the two Governments in accordance with the terms 6 Stat. 1504. of the Agreement of June 16,1942 with respect to the principles apply- ing to mutual aid. At the time such a final determination is reached, and the full extent of the aid furnished by the United States and the reciprocal aid furnished by the Government of Belgium becomes known, the United States will make such replacement in accordance with the principles expressed in Mr. Acheson's letter to any extent then mutually agreed upon between the two Governments as just and equitable. Sincerely yours, E R STETTINIUS, Jr His Excellency Baron ROBERT SILVERCRUYS, Belgian Ambassador. The Belgian Ambassador to the Secretary of State AMBASSADE DE BELGIQUE D. 8492/9 No. 2368 WASHINGTON, April 19, 1946 MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Ante, p. 1656. April 17th, 1945, forwarding certain proposals made with reference to the commitments taken by the United States Government and embodied in Mr. Dean Acheson's letter of January 30th, 1943. As you will recall, at that time the Belgian Congo was the only territory under Belgian jurisdiction where reciprocal aid could be made effective. The terms of Mr. Acheson's letter refer accurately to the situation prevailing in the Belgian Colony, where almost every manufactured article was purchased abroad and imported with con- siderable difficulty. It was not considered desirable that American forces should procure such articles without a reasonable assurance being given that they would be replaced. Quite different is the situation in the highly industrialized Belgian 1656

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