TNAG-0142-FCO40-178-Long-term-policy-on-International-trade-in-textiles-1969 — Page 216

nor fillar свилен вот А.

(a)

international trade in textile goods". The Council envisaged

the new arrangements for protection of duty rather than by quota as being "supported by effective measures to provide the safeguard referred to above". The President of the Board of Trade in his statement on 22nd July said "the Government would consider the use of quotas only on particular products under the Long-Term Cotton Arrangement of the GATT, and only if total imports of cotton textiles rose significantly above

the present level and caused disruption to the market in those particular products",

6. The main point in the Textile Council's conclusions was

that the U.K. industry should not be at a disadvantage as

regards protection compared with the industries of other

developed countries. This object would be attained equally

if:-

A.

(a) the CTA were continued and the U.K. reserved

its rights to impose quotas under its provisions in the circumstances envisaged in the President's statement;

(b)

or

the CTA ceased to exist and the possibilities

of restricting imports of cotton textiles were limited to those provided for in the ordinary GATT rules, (whether or not these were in some way revised).

In the case of (a), the U.K, would, on the introduction of a Commonwealth tariff by the end of 1971, have a market for cotton textiles which would be protected by a tariff but

free of quantitative restrictions, while those of other developed countries which continued to operate the CTA would

be protected both by a tariff and by quantitative restrictions, (It may be assumed see below that if the CTA were pro- longed, most developed countries other than the U.K., woulê continue to impose restrictions under its provisions.) In

this situation, unless the restrictions imposed by other

countries were much more liberally based than they are at present, it seems inevitable that many exporters of low-cost

cotton textiles would make a determined attempt to increase

their exports to the U.K. as the only market in which no

absolute lamitations were imposed. If they did this by means of subsidised or dumped exports these would be liable to the imposition of countervailing or anti-dumping duties (if they caused serious injury), but if the imports were not dumped or subsidised there would no doubt be pressure from the U.K.

/industry