more liberal policy than any other European textile
producing country and was a natural target. Imports
from low-cost countries, which in tuis context are
Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Portugal and Yugoslavia,
Decame a really serious matter in Sweden in the early
1960's. During the last 8 years Sweden has con-
sistently imported more textile goods from low-cost
countries than any other European country. As an
approximate percentage of total textile imports
these are Sweden 9.7 Denmark 9,1 Switzerland 7.8,
>
*
Norway 6.0, West Germany 5.6, Britain 5.3, Austria
5.0, Holland 3.5, Belgium 2.4, Italy 1.3, ortugal 1.2
and France 1.0. These figures show quite clearly
how severely, with one Or two exceptions, countries
with strong, vertically-integrated textile industries
restrict their imports from low-cost countries.
Although Sweden's share of such imports has risen
strongly since 1962, those of the other European
countries have kept moze Or less to the same level
as they are at today. Calculated on a per capita
basis, Sweden's share is three times greater than
that of other European countries and the growth rate
four times as rapid. Korea perhaps deserves to be
singled out for special mention in this connection,
as the 1966 import figures show that Sweden took
Sw.kr. 43m worth of knitted jumpers and cardigans
from South Korea, while both Norway and Denmark
limited their imports to about ow.lx 1 n each. In
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absolute terms, Sweden, bought three times as much
clothing and four times as much knitwear from korea