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had said, in Hong Kong in May that the U.S. market could
absorb the imports of 1968 but could not face a similar
growth rate of imports in future years. The U.S. Government
was seeking a moderation in the rate of growth of imports,
not a cut-back. A large part of the U.S. textile industry
was being disrupted now and the U.S. Government saw a
real threat ahead for all sectors of the industry.
11.
Mr. Jones referring back to Mr. Nehmer's statement
that Hong Kong was the second largest supplier of textiles
to the U.S. pointed out that this was due to the very large
proportion of cotton textiles (already under restraint) in
Hong Kong's exports; in man made fibres Hong Kong was only the
5th or 6th largest supplier. Mr. Nehmer said that measuring
in equivalent square yards and based on the first seven
months of 1969, Hong Kong was the largest supplier of cotton
textiles, the second largest supplier of woollen textiles,
and the fifth largest in man made fibre textiles.
In value
terms, for the same period, Hong Kong was the second largest
supplier of cotton, the second largest for wool and the third
largest for man made fibre textiles.
12.
Sir Lugene Melville said that whatever the
position of Hong Kong, total imports represented a very
small portion of U.S. production and consumption.
He
thought that the figures adduced so far were not sufficiently
illustrative of disruption or a threat thereof and he
/expressed
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