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Historical documents

368 Australian Government to Shaw, Wrigley and Reibelt

Cablegram 26 CANBERRA, 23 January 1948, 4 p.m.

SECRET

1. Please see our separate telegram of to-day's date [1] regarding
suggested basis for commencement of trade with Japan.

2. Adoption of this proposal would enable SCAP to finance the
purchase of at least 50,000 bales of raw wool per year. We are
concerned at the possibility of SCAP regarding the proposal as
unattractive because of the relatively small amount involved and
feel you should be aware that greater quantities can be exported.

The limit placed at the present time has been due to our inability
to envisage a greater flow of imports of essential goods from
Japan chiefly because of the requirement of payment in dollars for
cotton textiles and yarns.

3. If SCAP would be prepared to sell cotton textiles and yarns to
us for sterling our purchases could be increased by approximately
3 million over the year and this would enable SCAP to more than
double his purchases of Australian wool.

4. We omitted any suggestion of a request to SCAP that cotton
textiles and yarns should be made available for sterling in our
proposal as we felt that it might unnecessarily delay its
consideration. If you feel that there is any possibility that SCAP
would agree to the inclusion of cotton goods in the balanced trade
arrangement, you could make it clear at once that there would be
no objection on our side.

5. Other commodities which we would consider licensing from Japan
would be sulphur, caustic soda, caustic potash and soda ash if any
are yet available for export. [2]

1 Document 367.

2 Wrigley conveyed the proposal to MacArthur in a memorandum dated
5 Februay 1948. It included the matter mentioned in paragraph 3
above. On file AA:A5103/1, 8/4/3, ii.


[AA:A1838/278, 479/2/8]
Last Updated: 11 September 2013
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