nakunww wm 74g OF CONVERSATION DATE AND TIME December 17 1975 10 45 a m PLACE Hotel Raphael Paris SUBJECT PARTICIPANTS CANADA Allan J MacEachen Secretary of State for External Affairs Basil Robinson Under Secretary of State for External Affairs Peter Towe Assistant Under Secretary for External Affairs Michel Dupuy Assistant Under Secretary for External Affairs Jacques Roy U S Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger Charles W Robinson Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Helmut Sonnenfeldt Counselor Arthur A Hartman Assistant Secretary for European Affairs 'Ernest H Preeg Notetaker Just prior to meeting Secretary Kissinger and-Mr MacEachen gave a brief televised interview in which they stated that relations betWeen the two countries were excellent and in fact are better now than they have been for several years Text of remarks is attached MacEachen It appears we've done the main job of the conference now XGDS-3 - 'c The Secretarzt 1 Robinson The Secretary MacEachen nu i The Secretarx Hartman MacEachen -2- Bouteflika raised a point with me this morning He has the idea_that the two conference co-chairmen plus the co chairmen of each commission should get together and work out the guidelines for the commissions Our idea from the beginning has been that the chairmen of each group should work out the guidelines Regarding-US-Canadian relations I may have lost an Ambassador to Saudi Arabia He claims that the press misinterpreted what he said I was astonished to hear the report We have problems such as TV and Time magazine but we have been working them out We should not give the impression that our relations are at a crisis point that can only be solved by a meeting of the President and the Prime Minister In the normal course of events if you want to have a meeting we can have it However I think it is a mistake to have a meeting over these issues I believe we should de-escalate The Prime Minister has made a point of view of how closely we have been in touch and that he has met the President three times in the last year We have a prepared statement but'this might be overkill with the TV tape that we just made The weird thing is that Porter has been very pleased with the relationship between the two countries He claims he has said nothing about deterioration or a summit meeting I am glad to hear that I was particularly concerned over the word deterioration un- -- The Secretarz MacEachen The Secretarz Robinson The Secretary MacEachen The Secretarz MacEachen The Secretary Sonnenfeldt The Secretarz Hartman Sonnenfeldt -3- No he says he only mentioned the three problems Tv Time magazine and Saskatchewan - I have no complaint about that Back to the conference there_is nothing more to be done now but should we oppose a meeting of the co-chairmen as proposed by Bouteflika I - VNot as long as it takes place after the conference - Do we need a statement or will it be overkill It's a good statement It would be useful if we could hand this out to the press people outside do that Text is attached We will also have to demonstrate in the period ahead that relations between us are in fact good Well all_you have to do is yield on the three points Enders has confirmation hearings coming up and we could use this opportunity If even one of these issues could be solved it would be helpful Time magazine is going to quit in Canada in any event They will continue to sell the American edition but will no longer produce a Canadian edition MacEachen The Secretarx Hartman MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen Hartman -4F People will still buy Time but there will be no Canadian section intereSt to have Time publish a Canadian edition It is a form of discrimination We have protested in the past This is an attempt to encourage development of similar magaZines in Canada We have a similar problem with Readers Digest But Time and Readers Digest haven't been raised between us since the bill was passed You have raised the broadcasting issue but not Time You recall that when the President and the Prime Minister met the Prime Minister talked fully to the President about'this ' I'm not sure the President understood all of the implications of what_he was being told - At one point the Prime Minister reminded the President to talk to you about it Before we made the announcement on Time and Readers Digest Ivan Head was in touch with the White House and as I recollect Scowcroft said that the President had no further point to make on it I had opposed any move until we had advance consultation with the US The action had been proposed for an earlier period but it was delaYed until we had consulted I am not aware of subsequent conversations on this subject since the announcement There have been no subsequent conversations and-I was not aware of the White House consultation nor-was Porter 'The Secretary 'MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen 'The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary Sonnenfeldt The Secretary _ MacEachen -5- I didn't know about the consultations or at least I have no recollection of it The President never followed up with me I go into this background because of my meticulous care in having prior consultation But wouldn't you have moved in any event Probably yes but if you had come back strongly we would have reconsidered There was some in the government opposed to this actiOn Can anything be done now No the die is cast It has already passed Parliament I do remember that evening and the Prime Minister had taken care that you were notified of the talk with the President ' I don't recall if I was consulted subsequently It is hard to-believe that Scowcroft would have done it without consulting me It has been Time magazine that has been in touch with us on an almost weekly basis Is the document ready yet We have a rule that every Foreign Service Officer must read the document before it can be issued This is now claimed as a right and I am no longer supposed to overrule my advisers when we disagree This is the new system This document looks fine We have no fundamental problems If we issue this from both Sides that should do it I would like to raise two additional points First the law of the sea i I The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary - MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen -6- - We have managed to prevent Congressional action in this session In February I will announce myself head of our delegation to -the conference in March so I think we can at least hold off legislation through the first session of the Law of the Sea Con- ference If we hold off until Friday Congress will be in recess until January Then there is another holiday break in February and then we will be right before the conference If Congressional action were taken we would have to take another look at our situation The second point is the Korea issue The impending conclusion of our agreement with Korea has been postponed because of information you have given us You have knowledge that Korea is gearing up for a nuclear capability - We have asked the State Department for 7 information and we may need to ask for more Let me look into it The only evidence is the reprocessing plant they want from France There is some form of evidence that Park has told his staff he wants something by 1980 This is highly sensitive but if such an order is confirmed that would be overwhelming One question is whether the Koreans have such an intention and another question is whether the Canadian agreement would help Even if we could argue that our participation was not a factor there would still be a strong public reaction We will keep you informed We understand that you will cease your nuclear cooperation with Korea if they go on with the French -7- The Secretarx That is correct We will keep you informed If we turn off the reprocessing plant that should do it I - Text of joint statement issued at conclusidn of meeting is 'attached - Attachments 1 'Text of Public Remarks prior to this Bilateral Meeting 2 Text of Joint Statement issued I - at conclusion of Bilateral Meeting UNCLASSIFIED A ATTACHMENT 1 PUBLIC REMARKS MADE BY SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY A KISSINGER AND CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL ALLEN J MACEACHEN PRIOR TO A BILATERAL MEETING IN PARIS ON DECEMBER 17 1975 The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary MacEachen The Secretary NO I didn t know we had any problems until a few days ago Well do we have any I don t think so either We have an excellent relationship I ve been saying to you and to myself and to all others that the state of our relationship was excellent In fact I think it is better than it has been for some time I think the state of our relations is excellent Between two countries of our size there are always some problems but we are solving them in a spirit of cooperation and friendship Our relations are good The Prime Minister and the President's relations are very good also Well that is I am glad to say this is the interpretation that the Prime Minister has put on all these comments that have been made recently in the House of Commons And his interpretation is that his relations with the President are good and with you Of course without problems life would dull But the problems we have ENCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED MacEachen Of course there are problems and we have agreed that we want to Consult about them and work them out The Secretarx I think that our relations haven't been better at least since I've been in Washington This is my assessment of the situation MacEachen I agree with that I can only comment with respect to my own period in office and I think the atmosphere is better now than'it was a year and a half ago - 1 ATTACHMENT 2 ENCLASSIFIED- 1 JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED BY SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY A KISSINGER AND CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ALLEN MACEACHEN AT THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR BILATERAL MEETING IN PARIS 0N DECEMBER 17 1975 The United States and Canada have a long history of friendship and cooperation Both of our Governments have the intention to continue the process of consultation and negotiation which enables us to surmount the inevitable economic strains that arise from time to time between these two major economies The recent meetings in-Ottawa between the two Foreign Ministers and the excellent relations between President Ford and Prime Minister Trudeau give the highest confidence that our relations will continue to be managed in a way that will strengthen even further our friendship and cooperation                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu