Germany and the United States Sign the 1923 Friendship and Commerce Treaty

Charles Evans Hughes and Otto Wiedfeldt signed a treaty in Washington on 8 December 1923, two years after their governments had restored diplomatic relations. The American secretary of state and German ambassador agreed on rules for people doing business, traveling, or living in the other country after the wartime break. [2] [1]

Nationals of each country were to have access to the other’s courts and protection for their property, with provisions for inheritance, religious worship, and business premises. A merchant or a family settling an estate could invoke obligations agreed between the governments while remaining subject to local law. [2]

The governments also undertook to regulate trade on equal terms. Neither country would impose higher duties on the other’s goods than on comparable imports from a third state, giving firms a common set of rules as they resumed their commercial connections. [2]

Related Diplomats

1. Otto Wiedfeldt [2] [1]

Related Reading

• Germany and the United States