XN000022-1979-08-09 — Page 7

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1979

REPORT ON U.S.-KK TEXTILE TALKS CONSIDERED

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MR. DAVID JORDAN, DIRECTOR OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS AND CHAIRMAN OF THE TEXTILES ADVISORY BOARD, SAID TODAY (THURSDAY) THAT THE BOARD HAD CONSIDERED A REPORT ON THE RECENT UNITED STATES- HONG KONG TEXTILE TALKS,

THE REPORT WAS COMPILED BY MR. LAWRENCE MILLS, DIRECTOR OF TRADE, FOLLOWING HIS DISCUSSIONS WITH A U.S. DELEGATION LED BY THE CHIEF TEXTILE NEGOTIATOR, AMBASSADOR MICHAEL B. SMITH, IN MANILA FROM JULY 20-22.

THE REPORT COVERED THE U.S. DELEGATION'S PRESENTATION AS TO THE CURRENT POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE DEMAND OF THE V.S. TEXTILE INDUSTRY FOR TIGHTER RESTRICTIONS ON HONG KONG AND SOME OTHER SUPPLIERS.

IT ALSO RECORDED THE U.S. DELEGATION'S SUGGESTIONS FOR CERTAIN MODIFICATIONS TO BE MADE TO THE CURRENT FIVE-YEAR HONG KONG-UNITED STATES TEXTILE AGREEMENT.

IN REACTION TO THE REPORT, MEMBERS POINTED OUT THAT AT THE RECENT U.S. MANAGEMENT LABOUR TEXTILE COMMITTEE MEETING ON JUNE 5, 1979, U.S. OFFICIALS HAD SAID THAT TEXTILE AND APPAREL IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES DURING THE JANUARY-APRIL PERIOD OF 1979 DECLINED BY 395 MILLION SQUARE YARDS SIMILAR TO THE FIGURE OF THE SAME PERIOD IN 1978, AND U.S. OFFICIALS HAD GUESSED THAT TEXTILE AND APPAREL IMPORTS IN 1979 WOULD BE ABOUT 10 PER CENT LOWER THAN IN 1978.

IN APRIL 1979, U.S. IMPORTS OF COTTON, WOOL AND MAN-MADE FIBRES, TEXTILES AND APPAREL HAD DECLINED BY SEVEN PER CENT FROM THE PREVIOUS MONTH AND BY 33 PER CENT FROM APRIL 1978.

U.S. IMPORTS OF TEXTILES AND APPAREL FROM HONG KONG IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WERE ALMOST 16 PER CENT LOWER THAN IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR IN QUANTITY TERMS.

ON THE OTHER HAND, HONG KONG'S IMPORTS OF TEXTILES AND APPAREL FROM THE UNITED STATES WERE WORTH OVER $166 MILLION IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, AN INCREASE OF 74 PER CENT COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1978.

MEMBERS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION THIS YEAR IN THE U.9. TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRY WAS VIRTUALLY THE SAME AS IT WAS IN 1977, THE YEAR IN WHICH THE FIVE-YEAR TEXTILE AGREEMENT WAS NEGOTIATED.

THESE

THE BOARD WAS PARTICULARLY CONCERNED AT THE U.S. INDUSTRY'S ATTITUDE TO THE FLEXIBILITY PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT. PROVISIONS ASSIST U.S. DOMESTIC PRODUCERS BY PREVENTING OVER-CONCENTRATION OF EXPORTS IN CATEGORIES WHERE DEMAND MAS WEAK.

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