Franklin D. Roosevelt

Statement on War Production Policy with Canada.

December 23, 1941

Statement of the President:

Joint War Production Committees of Canada and the United States have unanimously adopted a declaration of policy calling for a combined all-out war production effort and the removal of any barriers standing in the way of such a combined effort. This declaration has met the approval of the Canadian War Cabinet. It has my full approval. To further its implementation, I have asked the affected departments and agencies in our Government to abide by its letter and spirit, so far as lies within their power. I have further requested Mr. Milo Perkins, the Chairman of the American Committee, to investigate, with the aid of the Tariff Commission and other interested agencies, the extent to which legislative changes will be necessary to give full effect to the declaration.

Through brute force and enslavement, Hitler has secured a measure of integration and coordination of the productive resources of a large part of the continent of Europe. We must demonstrate that integration and coordination of the productive resources of the continent of America is possible through democratic processes and free consent.

Statement of War Production Policy for Canada and the United States:

Having regard to the fact that Canada and the United States are engaged in a war with common enemies, the Joint War Production Committee of Canada and the United States recommends to the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada the following statement of policy for the war production of the two countries.

1. Victory will require the maximum war production in both countries in the shortest possible time; speed and volume of war output, rather than monetary cost, are the primary objectives.

2. An all-out war production effort in both countries requires the maximum use of the labor, raw materials, and facilities in each country.

3. Achievement of maximum volume and speed of war output requires that the production and resources of both countries should be effectively integrated, and directed toward a common program of requirements for the total war effort.

4. Each country should produce those articles in an integrated program of requirements which will result in maximum joint output of war goods in the minimum time.

5. Scarce raw materials and goods which one country requires from the other in order to carry out the joint program of war production should be so allocated between the two countries that such materials and goods will make the maximum contribution toward the output of the most necessary articles in the shortest period of time.

6. Legislative and administrative barriers, including tariffs, import duties, customs and other regulations or restrictions of any character which prohibit, prevent, delay, or otherwise impede the free flow of necessary munitions and war supplies between the two countries should be suspended or otherwise eliminated for the duration of the war.

7. The two Governments should take all measures necessary for the fullest implementation of the foregoing principles.

Members for Canada

G. K. Sheils, Chairman

R. P. Bell

H. J. Carmichael

J. R. Donald

W. L. Gordon

H. R. MacMillan

Members for the U.S.

Milo Perkins, Chairman

J. B. Forrestal

W. H. Harrison

R. P. Patterson

E. R. Stettinius

H. L. Vickery

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Statement on War Production Policy with Canada. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/210535

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