The Joint Preparatory Committee on Philippine Affairs (JPCPA) was established jointly in April 1937 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon. Its primary mission was to examine the economic provisions of the Tydings–McDuffie Act (1934), which had outlined a ten-year transition toward full Philippine independence by 1946. Recognizing that sudden trade barriers and export tariffs could destabilize the Philippine economy, the joint U.S.–Philippine committee held extensive public hearings in Washington, San Francisco, and Manila to study trade balances, industrial competitiveness, and post-independence economic adjustments.
Volume III, Group 1 compiles the printed legal and economic briefs submitted to the committee by various industrial, agricultural, and commercial stakeholders from both the United States and the Philippines.