Mr Renwick
TEXTILE IMPORT POLICY
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1. You agreed with Mr Keeble that the Minister of State might
be prepared to raise this subject at today's meeting of the
Economic Policy Committee.
BACKGROUND
2. A Working Party of DTI officials has been considering UK
textile import policy for some weeks. We understand that at a
meeting yesterday evening, DTI Ministers decided to put to
their colleagues the proposal that we should maintain the
existing quota system for cotton textiles as well as introducing,
from 1 January 1972, the proposed tariffs. We understand that
the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will be writing
to his colleagues to propose the new policy.
3. We do not consider that a proposal of this kind which, if
Ministers were to accept that such a change should be made,
would involve a variety of problems affecting our relations with
overseas countries could be satisfactorily dealt with in
correspondence as the DTI now seem to suggest.
4. For these reasons, the Minister of State might wish to say
today that he understands that DTI Ministers are about to put
specific proposals to their colleagues and that he hopes that
these proposals can be discussed at an early meeting of the EPC.
18 November 1971
FE J Hale
Commodities Department
CONFIDENTIAL
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