ABSTRACT
The sense of crisis that had dominated the formation and operation of the first agreement had dissipated by 1933. While the industry had finally moved towards an equilibrium between production, consumption and stocks, productive capacity remained far in excess of demand. As long as this condition remained, there was little question about the necessity of maintaining the ITC. Negotiations for a second agreement took place at three levels: among the core members over the question of standard tonnages; between the ITC and outside producers; and within the ITC over the modifications that should be included in a new text. Only the last of these was at all straightforward.
