91
Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Revision of the Philippine Trade Agreement.
May 5, 1955

Dear_________:

The President of the Republic of the Philippines, in a letter to me dated March 7, 1953, requested examination and adjustment of the 1946 Trade Agreement between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines as being vital to the economic stability of his country and to its permanent trade relations with the United States. Discussions on specific Philippine proposals for revision began last September between a United States Delegation and a Philippine Mission designated for the purpose, andculminated in the signing on December 15, 1954, of a Final Act of Negotiations in which each agreed to recommend to its Government the revisions contained therein.

A copy of the Final Act, with corrections agreed to in an exchange of letters between the Chairmen of the United States and Philippine Delegations, and a copy of a memorandum from the Secretary of State on this subject, are transmitted herewith.

Revision of the 1946 Agreement cannot be effected without the authorization of the Congress. I believe that the revision, as proposed in the Final Act of Negotiations, would be beneficial to both the United States and the Philippines and would contribute materially to the improvement of the already friendly political and economic relations between them. I earnestly urge, therefore, that appropriate legislation be enacted at this session of the Congress to permit revision of the 1946 Agreement in accordance with the recommendations contained in the Final Act.
Sincerely,
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

NOTE: This is the text of identical letters addressed to the Honorable Richard M. Nixon, President of the Senate, and to the Honorable Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The documents transmitted with the letters are published in House Document 155 (84th Cong., 1st Sess, ).