1. On 21 Dec. the House of Representatives adopted a resolution proposed by Jacob Swoope of Virginia requesting the president to forward information “relative to the duties as at present imposed by the Emperor of France, on all articles, the importation of which into the dominions of France is permitted on board of American vessels; and whether all articles, the produce of the American soil, will, on their exportation from the United States, obtain a free admission into the ports of France; and, if not, what articles of said produce are prohibited” (Annals of Congress description begins Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56). description ends , 11th Cong., 3d sess., 459).

The 28 Dec. report submitted by the secretary of state established that France, under an imperial decree of 15 July 1810, only allowed the importation of certain enumerated American products under highly restrictive conditions and, as Robert Smith observed in his correspondence with Turreau on the subject, that “the importation into France of cotton and tobacco, the produce of the United States, is, at this time, specially and absolutely prohibited” (ASP description begins American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61). description ends , Foreign Relations, 3:402).