Letter from Michael MacWhite to Henry L. Stimson¹ (Washington DC)
(45/24/29)

Sir:

I am instructed by my Government to call the attention of the United States Government to some of the features of the new Tariff Bill now before Congress, and to point out the detrimental effect on the commercial relations between the Irish Free State and the United States that is likely to follow if this bill as it now stands becomes law.

In 1927, the last year for which detailed statistics are available, the value of the direct trade between the Irish Free State and the United States was as follows:

These figures can not however be taken as exhaustive either as regards imports or exports, but nevertheless, it is apparent that on the basis of the direct trade alone its unbalanced character constitutes a very strong argument for the imposition of less onerous duties on goods exported to the United States from the Irish Free State.

In this connection I would refer to the publication by the United States Department of Commerce entitled 'The Irish Free State - An Economic Survey' by the American Trade Commissioner in Ireland, issued in 1928. On Annex A herewith are given details of British re-exports to the Irish Free State which include a large proportion of goods of American origin which come to us via Great Britain. For example, the total imports of unmanufactured tobacco in 1927 amounted to $3,350,000, nearly all of which was of American origin, while our statistics show that only $415,000 worth was imported direct from the United States in that year.

The same applies to the imports of bacon. On page 79 of the Department of Commerce Survey it is stated that 'in 1926 direct imports of bacon from the United States amounted to only 60 hundredweight, whereas the total imports of this staple article of Irish diet amounted to 417,502 hundredweight valued at £2,189,028, most of which is known to be of American origin, distributed throughout the 26 counties of the Free State by American branch houses and merchants in Great Britain'.

The total value of United States agricultural products imported direct into the Irish Free State in 1927 was approximately $17,000,000 and there is every reason to believe that the value of the indirect imports of these products did not fall very much below this figure, as an inspection of Annex A will reveal that many of the articles re-exported from Great Britain to the Irish Free State have their source in the United States.

Since the statistics kept by my Government trace goods only to the country of consignment it is probably true that our exports to the United States are in excess of the figures given above as many articles of Irish origin are re-exported to the United States from Great Britain. Nevertheless our indirect exports must fall considerably short of the value of our direct trade with the result that the actual trade balance is very much more against us than is apparent by a comparison of merely the direct exports and imports between our two countries.

It will be seen from Annex B that the principal articles directly imported into the United States in 1927 were:

and the proposed increase in the new tariff schedules affecting the wool and woollen tissues will, it is feared, have a most serious effect upon our export of these goods to the United States, and still further increase the trade balance which is already heavily overloaded against us.

I am especially anxious to bring to the attention of your Government the case of the pickled mackerel industry, a trade on which depends the existence of a large number of people in the uneconomic districts of Ireland, who have no alternative occupation and to whom the present high duty on these goods is a very serious handicap. My Government wish particularly to urge consideration in this case in the hope that a reduction may be effected.

As regards the wool and woollen tissues, it would appear that any further increase would close the American market entirely to our export of these commodities, and it will follow as a natural corollary that a heavy fall in exports will have a very serious effect on our imports, especially on such articles as bacon products, motor cars, and tobacco, as our buying power, already low, will become still further restricted.

While fully appreciating the difficulties with which the United States Government are confronted regarding the readjustment of tariffs my Government feel that the disproportionate balance of trade between our two countries is a factor that should not be disregarded in determining the new tariff schedules, more particularly those affecting our principal articles of export such as pickled mackerel, wool and woollen tissues. It is only by reducing the tariff on these articles that the Irish Free State can hope to increase her exports to the United States and thereby establish a trade balance of more equitable proportions than that which actually exists.