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atter THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY WASHINGTON NOV 10 1945 MEMOR.ANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT ON THE STATUS OF BRITISH FINANCIAL NEGOTIATIONS The principal differences unsettled are: On amount of loan: The British request billion, including credit for Ehe lend-lease settlement, and we agree on $3.20 billion, excluding the credit for lend-lease. Postponed payments: We agree that payments should be postponed in bad years, but the U. S. would prefer the decision on this to rest with the President and the British wish the postponement to be automatic, based entirely upon certain statistical criteria. On commercial policy: The U. S. has asked that all import restrictions discriminatory against American busi- ness should be ended at an early date. The British have not yet agreed. mum . and ARCHIVES "NATIONAL SERVICE' RECORDS AND E COVERAGEN There follows an outline of the principal points in the negotiations: 1. The amount of the credit and the interest rate. The British first indicated that they needed a minimum of $5 billion exclusive of credits for lend-lease and surplus goods, and could not commit themselves to repay at the rate of more than $100 million per year. In other words, they wanted a fifty-year loan without interest. FORVICTORY BUY UNITED STATES WAR BONDS AND STAMPS