FC and enclosure (DLC:Jefferson Papers); internal address: “The President of the Senate.”

Jefferson enclosed extracts of a 21 Oct. 1790 letter from William Short outlining the state of Franco-American trade. According to Short, the French National Assembly balked at paying the same foreign tonnage duties to the United States that had been levied on Great Britain since 20 July. French legislators were also reconsidering the favorable treatment previously granted to American imports of tobacco and whale oil. On 18 Jan. 1791 Jefferson edited and used Short’s intelligence to communicate this news in a formal report to the president, along with his recommendation to heed the French appeals. George Washington transmitted Jefferson’s report to the Senate on 19 January. It was referred to 469 committee on 27 Jan. and was still under consideration when Jefferson sent this information, a key source of his report, separately to JA. The resulting debate exposed supporters of British and French interests alike in Congress. But any meaningful step toward formulating an American policy in response was preempted in June, when the National Assembly terminated all past favors awarded to American-built ships, tobacco, and whale oil (Jefferson, Papers , 18:544, 546, 555, 565, 570; 19:238–239; U.S. Senate, Exec. Jour. , 1st Cong., 3d sess., p. 66, 72).