<--PREV Doc #596  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #598 Document #597; March 7, 1958 To Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Series: EM, AWF, International Series: Cortines The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part IV: Recession and Reform; February 1958 to May 1958 Chapter 8: "To engender confidence"   Dear Mr. President:1 Thank you very much for your letter of February seventeenth expressing your serious concern about the possibility of an increase in United States tariffs on lead and zinc.2 I deeply appreciate this full and friendly expression of your views, and your interest in approaching our common problems in a cooperative way. The United States Tariff Commission has not yet completed its study of the lead and zinc case, and I know you would not want me to comment prematurely on the substance of the problem. I can assure you, however, that the interested Departments of the United States Government, and I personally, will weigh carefully the points you raise in your letter in considering this entire problem as soon as the Tariff Commission's report is presented.3 I take pleasure, Mr. President, in renewing to you the assurances of my highest esteem and most cordial friendship. Sincerely 1 State Department officials drafted this letter to the Mexican president (see Herter to Eisenhower, Mar. 6, 1958, AWF/I: Cortines). 2 In 1954 the U.S. Tariff Commission had recommended raising tariffs on lead and zinc to protect the domestic mining industries. In an attempt to maintain good relations with the eleven lead and zinc producing countries, including Mexico, Eisenhower had rejected the commission's recommendation and asked for voluntary restraints on imports and increased stockpile purchasing. Although the government had increased its domestic purchases of both commodities, imports had increased gradually, and prices had declined. In June 1957, with Eisenhower's approval, the Interior Department had sent a proposal to Congress for a sliding scale of excise taxes on lead and zinc imports. When Congress did not act on the proposal, Eisenhower asked the Tariff Commission to investigate the lead and zinc industries (see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1019; see also State, Foreign Relations, 1955 - 1957, vol. IX, Foreign Economic Policy; Foreign Information Program, pp. 264 - 67; Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. XIII, 1957, pp. 654 - 55; Kaufman, Trade and Aid, pp. 118 - 19; and Alfred E. Eckes, Jr., The United States and the Global Struggle for Minerals [Austin, 1979], pp. 213 - 14). President Ruiz Cortines had praised Eisenhower's 1954 decision and pointed out that Mexican exports of lead and zinc had decreased during the years immediately following the decision. The fall in prices, however, had been "a serious blow" to the Mexican mining industry (AWF/I: Cortines). 3 On April 24 the Tariff Commission would report to Eisenhower that increased importation of lead and zinc was causing "serious injury" to domestic producers. But the commission could not agree to the need for a tariff increase. Eisenhower would tell congressional leaders that he was postponing any decision on the issue until Congress had considered the proposal for a sliding scale of import taxes (State, American Foreign Policy; Current Documents, 1958, pp. 1491 - 93, 1496). For developments see no. 774. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, 7 March 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 597. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/597.cfm <--PREV Doc #596  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #598

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