Memorandum of Cabinet Notes

SECHEI e 324 ARCHIVES RERVICE* RECORDS 'NATIONAL AND November 21, 1950. CABINET NOTES Iten 2 Position of the Atministration on the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program and the ITO Charter in the 82nd Congress In accordance with Mr. OtGara's memorandum to me of November 13, I forwarded yesterday to the Prosident the memorandum entitled #Position of the Administrution on the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program and the ITO Charter in the 82nd Congress.* The President read the pesorandum and sent me vord that it would be agreeable to him to have me roise this at the Cabinet neeting. Accordingly I did so, explaining that I was taking this method of getting Cabinet discussion rather than inter-departmental clearance at lover levels in order to reduce the possibility of public discussion at this point. After a brief discu sion of the matter, I made the recomnendations contained in Mr. OfGara's menorandum. The President asked for an expression of views by all members of the Cabinet. Secretary Sayyer vas absent. Mr. Foley for the Treasury, Secretary Chapam for Interior, Mr. Harriman, Mr. Steelmen, Mr. Tobin, Mr. Brannan, all expressed their concurrence. The other members had no comments to make. Mr. Branman and Nr. Tobin hoped that our action in dropping the ITO could be done in such a way as not to appear to yield ground to the opposition. Mr. Steelman suggested that it might be possible to use this willingness to abandon the ITO in order to gain some concessions from some of the members of the House and Senate who might otherwise disapprove our Trade Agreements Program. He said that he vas under the impression that we vould find considerable opposition to the Trade Agreenents Act. DECLASSIFIED E. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (E) Dept. of State letter, Aggr-1973 3-16-76 SECRET By MLT. He NARS Date 6-15.76