Mr Keeble Mr Renwick
PA
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ECONOMIC POLICY COMMITTEE
Wednesday, 24 November 1971 - 11.15 a.m.
Item No. 4: BRITISH TEXTILE IMPORT POLICY
Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry (EPC (71)97)
PROBLEM
1.
Whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office should agree to the proposal in EPC (71)97 that from 1 January 1972 imports of cotton textiles should be regulated by quotas in addition to
tariffs.
BACKGROUND & ARGUMENT
2. Annex A sets out in detail the main considerations (together with statistical information) involved in the DTI proposal.
(a)
3. The DTI case for proposing increased protection to the British textile industry is based on the following premises.
The current state of the Lancashire textile area.
Expected increased quantities of textile imports for early
1972 which might be added to when it is known that we
intend to introduce quantitative restrictions when we join
the EEC.
(b)
(c) The recent American restrictions on imports of non-cotton
textiles.
IS THERE A CASE FOR INCREASED PROTECTIONISM?
4. The 1969 Textile Council report was a blueprint for the restructuring of Lancashire industry to become fully competitive
by European standards. The Council believed that a tariff
CONFIDENTIAL
/would
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