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BRITISH EMBASSY,

WASHINGTON, D.C.,

24 February, 1969

1927/2

36

Dew Britten.

U.S. Foreign Trade Policy

As you know, it is the practice for the EFTA Ambassadors in Washington to lunch together about once a month and to invite a guest to speak off-the-record on 'some topic of current interest.

2.

The speaker at today's lunch, given by the Danish Ambassador, was Mr. Donald Kendall, recently appointed Chairman of the Emergency Committee for American Trade and President of Pepsi-Co. Inc. I attach a note of what he said. His remarks show some signs of schizophrenia between the liberal briefing from the ECAT staff and the more conservative messages which he appears to have got from his friend President Nixon. Although one should not perhaps read too much into his remarks they provide some further confirmation that

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(a) the President regards himself under a fairly

strong obligation, on political and social grounds, to take some action on textile imports;

(b) the main target is the lower-cost exporters

of Asia.

Kendall also underlined the strength of feeling, even in liberal trade circles, about the restrictive import policies in certain sectors of Japan and the E.E.C.

Riki Dilley

P. W. Ridley

R. G. Britten, Esq.,

Trade Policy Department,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

co's:

E.W.M. Magor, Esq., C.M.G., 0.B.E.,

Board of Trade.

F. H. Jackson, Esq., 0.B.E.,

UKDEL, E.E.C., Brussels. P.H.R. Marshall, Esq.,

UKMIS, Geneva.

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