61 STAT.] CANADA-RECIPROCAL TRADE-OCT. 30, 1947 The Acting Chairmnan of the United States Delegation to the Chaii-man of the CanadianDelegation OCTOBER 30, 1947 DEAR AIR. WILGRESS: A point of legal detail has been brought to my attention in connec- tion with the Agreement Supplementary to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which we propose to sign on behalf of our two Governments on October 30 making the Reciprocal Trade Agreement of 1939 [1] between the United States and Canada inoperative so long as both the United States and Canada are parties to the Gen- eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. As you know, Article XVIII of the 1939 Agreement provides that it may be terminated by either party after three years on six months' notice. The inclusion of such a provision in all our trade agreements is required by the Trade Agreements Act. Our lawyers have sug- gested that the very general terms of the proposed Supplementary Agreement might possibly be interpreted as making it impossible for either party to the 1939 Agreement to exercise this right of termi- nation. It is, of course, improbable that either of our Governments would wish to exercise this right of termination, but under our law we must, nevertheless, retain it in force. To suggest a formal amend- ment to the proposed Supplementary Agreement expressly excepting Article XVIII of the 1939 Agreement at this late date would cause considerable inconvenience and would give greater emphasis to this point than it deserves. I am therefore writing to make it clear that we would be signing the Supplementary Agreement with the under- standing that its general language would not prevent notice of termi- nation of the 1939 Agreement given by either party while we were both parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from effecting termination of the 1939 Agreement in six months. I would appreciate it if you could give me the assurance that your Government has the same understanding. Sincerely yours WINTHROP G. BROWN WINTHBOP G. BROWN Acting Chairman Hon. L. D. WILREss The Delegation of Canada Palais des Nations [This agreement was signed Nov. 17,1938, and entered into force provisionally Nov. 26, 1938, for article IX and after Jan. 1, 1939, for articles I, VI, and VII, and definitively June 17, 1939.] 3697 53 Stat. 2348 . 19 U.S. C. § 1351 note. 61 Stat., Pts. 5and6. Right of termina- tion. 53 Stat. 2356. 48 Stat. 943. 19U. .C.§§1351- 1354. 53 Stat. 2356. 61 Stat., Pts. 5 and 6.
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