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CASES OF DEMONSTRABLE HARDSHIP, WE WOULD BE READY TO JOIN WITH YOU AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN GATT IN SEEKING SOLUTIONS FOR ANY IMMEDIATE DIFFICULTIES WHERE SERIOUS INJURY EXISTS OR THREATENS.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS. ENDS.
2. FOLLOWING IS TEXT OF MEMORANDUM. BEGINS.
US IMPORTS OF NON-COTTON TEXTILES.
1. THE PROPOSALS FOR COMPREHENSIVE RESTRAINTS ON NON-COTTON TEXTILES PUT BY THE US GOVERNMENT TO THE GOVERNMENTS OF JAPAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE FAR EAST COULD, IF INSISTED UPON, LEAD TO A SERIOUS SET BACK TO THE PURSUIT OF FULLER AND FREER TRADE, BASED ON THE GATT, WHICH HAS BEEN THE COMMON OBJECTIVE OF THE US AND UK GOVERNMENTS FOR MANY YEARS.
2. THE GATT RECOGNISES THAT CIRCUMSTANCES MAY ARISE WHEN RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF PARTICULAR PRODUCTS MAY BE IMPOSED AS EMERGENCY MEASURES: BUT THAT RESORT TO SUCH MEASURES SHOULD ONLY BE CONSIDERED WHERE INCREASED IMPORTS ARE CAUSING OR THREATENING
TO CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY TO DOMESTIC PRODUCERS.
3. INJURY IS NORMALLY JUDGED BY REFERENCE TO SUCH FACTORS AS THE LEVELS OF DOMESTIC PRODUCTION, PROFITS, PRICES AND EMPLOYMENT IN RELATION TO IMPORT PERFORMANCE, THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION DOES NOT SUGGEST THAT THE INCREASE IN US IMPORTS OF NON-COTTON TEXTILES IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, THOUGH LARGE IN RELATION TO IMPORTS IN EARLIER YEARS, HAS CAUSED OR THREATENS TO CAUSE INJURY TO THE US INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE THAT WOULD WARRANT THE INTRODUCTION OF WIDE- SPREAD RESTRAINTS OF THE KIND THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED. THE INCREASED IMPORTS IN 1968 AND 1969 HAVE COME AT A TIME WHEN DEMAND AND CONSUMPTION IN THE USA HAVE BEEN HIGH, THE GROWTH IN IMPORTS HAS BEEN MUCH LESS IN ABSOLUTE TERMS THAN THE GROWTH IN
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