and Korea and Taiwan
DRAFT
CONFT DENTI AL
Textiles
Te United States has been pressing for arrangements which would enable them
to restrict their imports of non-cotton textiles (to meet cornitments entered into
during Fresident Hixon's election campaign).
The GATT contains an eccare clause (Article XIX) enabling countries to
restrict imports when rising imports are causing or threatening serious injury to
domestic producers, but the US Government has declined to invoke this provision
because the US textile industry generally has been enjoying increasing prosperity
and because they would have to compensate the countries whose trade has been
affected by reducing tariffs on othor items. A dangerous precedent, not only for
textiles, would be set if the United States restricted textile imports in these
circumstances (except perhaps in the narrow sectors, if any, in which they might
be able to show that imports were causing or threatening serious injury). The
United States have therefore not received a sympathetic response, either to their
ideas of a comprehensive general scheme of restraints for non-cotton textiles on
the lines of the existing GATT Long Term Arrangement for Cotton Textiles (tho ITA)
or to their recent approaches to Japan and Hong Kong for comprehensive bilater]
restraints.
There is a risk that, if no way out of their problem is offered to the US
Administration, Congress will pass legislation unilaterally irposing import
rastrictions on a broad sector of non-cotton textiles. This would be contrary to
the GATT and seriously damage the fabric of international commercial roïations.
Some damage of this kind would also result if the US induced the Japanese to
accept comprehensive bilateral restraints. Our best hope at present is to keep
alive and develop the idea put forward by the EEC at the recent meeting of the
GATT Cotton Textiles Comittee, of a GATT study of the possible problems in
non-cotton textiles,
pacnotic to the US dos
SerCTED DÉ
pestpekrīta în trade int
kon textile
impor fair that this
CONFIDENT AL
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