Visit of Chancellor Schmidt of the Federal Republic of Germany White House Statement Issued at the Conclusion of the Chancellor's Visit.

President Carter and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Helmut Schmidt, held three lengthy conversations during the Chancellor's official visit to Washington, July 13-15. 'The Chancellor came to Washington at the President's invitation, and the President hosted a White House dinner for the Chancellor and his party on July 13. The three meetings between the President and the Chancellor covered a wide range of economic, political, and security issues in which the two nations share an interest. Those discussions followed on the meetings the President and Chancellor had in May at the London Summit. In addition to the two scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, the President met privately with the Chancellor for about 1 hour Wednesday night following the state dinner.

The President and the Chancellor emphasized the closeness of the consultation between their two governments and their basic agreement on major issues. They expressed the belief that the small differences between their governments in recent months have often become exaggerated in public accounts, and they committed themselves to be in direct touch with one another in the future to make sure that exaggeration does not recur.

In their first meeting, the President and the Chancellor discussed the spectrum of relations between East and West, focusing on SALT, other arms control negotiations, and the upcoming fall meeting in Belgrade of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. They also exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and on how to move forward with international efforts to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation, while still assuring all nations access to the nuclear energy they need. The President and the Chancellor also discussed the importance of basic human rights and its role in international affairs.

The second formal meeting between the two was devoted largely to MBFR and economic issues. The Germans presented some thoughts on MBFR, and the two sides exchanged views on how to move the negotiations forward. With regard to economic issues, there was broad agreement. The Chancellor met on July 13 with Secretary Blumenthal, and the President emphasized satisfaction, in his second formal meeting with the Chancellor, at the Federal Republic's efforts to assure domestic economic growth and deal with current accounts surpluses. The two men agreed on the importance of economic stability to the political cohesion of the developed countries and to the prospects for progress in the dialog between the North and South. The President and the Chancellor also agreed on the need to move forward this year with international trade negotiations--expressing pleasure at the results of recent meetings between the President's Special Trade Representative, Robert Strauss, and the European Communities-to assure adequate international financing and to implement the commitments their countries and others undertook at the London Summit in May.

The Chancellor, who last visited the United States in July 1976 to celebrate the American Bicentennial, was accompanied by Mrs. Schmidt. His party also included leaders from German business, labor, and cultural life. At the conclusion of their last meeting, the Chancellor invited the President to visit Germany, and the President accepted in principle, indicating that he looked forward to a visit.