U.S. – E.E.C. Businessmen’s Conference

The U.S. – E.E.C. Businessmen’s Conference was an outreach initiative of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States which began in November 1970 with a series of exchanges and high-level meetings aimed at reassuring Europe’s business leaders and strengthening trans-Atlantic commercial ties during a period of trade and monetary instability. The turbulence became particularly acute surrounding the August 1971 Nixon Administration decision to decouple the Dollar from gold – a de facto devaluation along with the rise of protectionist sentiment embodied in the Burke-Hartke legislation advanced by American trade unions. After eight months of intense planning and numerous trips to Europe led by Chamber president Archie K. Davis (Chairman of Wachovia Bank) and the Chamber’s international group executive Nicholas E. Hollis, the resultant framework and momentum produced a three-day conference at Versailles outside Paris. The conference convened nearly 100 top industrialists and bankers at the historic Trianon Palace Hotel—and led to the creation of an ongoing organization called the U.S.-E.C. Business Council, as well as laying the foundation for the Trilateral Commission.

The U.S.-E.E.C. Businessmen’s Conference (US-EC) emerged from a concept paper presented in late 1970 before the Chamber’s International Committee which sparked formation of a special Task Force on US-EEC Trade Relations. Although initial concern centered on EEC expansion and the potential of United Kingdom accession, a positive exchange of letters occurred between the Task Force and officials at the European Communities offices in Washington (approved by Brussels) and encouragement by Nathaniel Samuels (Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs).

Following a Chamber leadership transition, incoming president Archie Davis quickly adopted the US-EC theme in his talking points during a speaking tour of American Chambers of Commerce in Europe. (Note: His predecessor, F. Ritter Shumway, Chamber president 1970-71, had corresponded with European counterparts in April). As a banker, Davis was comfortable with monetary and investment issues, but shortly after conferring with George Champion (former Chase Manhattan Bank president), Davis realized he had unwittingly sparked competitive forces when David Rockefeller (Chase’s new chairman) began to show particular interest. Rockefeller, a founder of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), considered improving trans-Atlantic economic relations among his priorities, and regarded the Chamber’s international efforts as flat-footed and ineffectual. Perhaps fearing he would be overshadowed and/or outmaneuvered, Davis wrote Secretary of State William P. Rogers to stake out the Chamber’s conference theme on July 2 with copies shown to seven other Nixon cabinet members, as well as a number of sub-cabinet-level officials, including Peter G. Peterson.

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