CONFIDENTIAL
11. Next sweaters. You say I quoted from the wrong table; but I did so because this was the only table in which imports from Hong Kong were mentioned separately. The other table does not separate out Hong Kong. I can only add also that, as regards the first table, the calculations were done by yourself and you produced the figure of 7.94 as Hong Kong's share of the U.K. market without saying that infants' knitted outer garments were included in the production figures but not the import figures. As regards the additional figures you have now produced, most of these can be worked out from your second table. But I notice that, in order to make the position look more difficult on paper for the U.K. industry, you quote what you call "production for the U.K." and omit to mention that in 1968 there were exports of approximately 300,000 dozen men's woollen sweaters and 235,000 dozen women's (the figures for MMF exports were not given). In fact the figures for imports from all sources as a percentage of apparent consumption were 30.4% for men's wool and 26.7% for women's wal while for men's MMF imports as a percentage of production came to 37.7%. However, these figures conceal the fact that the overall figures for imports of sweaters, etc. into the U.K. are not as good as those for the U.8.A., let alone Sweden where in 1968 imports were over 75% of apparent consumption of all wool and MMF sweaters, etc. both men's and women's (Norway would also show similar figures). The equivalent figure for the U.K. for all wool and MMP sweaters is 19.84% in 1968 and for the U.8. 31.4% in 1967. I might add also that the figure for Germany was also close to 50% when Hong Kong conceded restraint on woollen knitwear in 1966, The main reason for the relatively low U.K. figures overall is the tremendous concentration of U.K. production on women's MMF jumpers and cardigans, presumably because this is the best and most profitable market. Production of these items increased by almost 1 million dozen in 1968 to over 4 million dozen, or considerably more than the approximate 2.85 million dozen for all men's items plus women's wool put together. In view of this fact, which you do not mention, I really cannot see that the U.K. sweater, jumper and cardigan manufacturers are doing at all badly.
12.
Finally on shirts I concede, first of all, that the figures I was using were those in your table on woven (non-knitted) shirts. This was because this was the only table you supplied which showed the split between cotton and MMP and which gave importa from Hong Kong. Your table for all shirts did neither of these things and could not therefore be used to assess any case against Hong Kong. Now you have provided further figures which I could not obtain from the earlier tables.
13. Using your new figures I note again that the case you have is concentrated heavily on cotton and, indeed, that in non-cotton shirts Hong Kong is no more than a minor supplier (presumably because she is not a supplier of knitted nylon shirts which are popular in the U.K. market as compared with polyester/cotton shirts which sell better in North America). You do not say what U.K. MMF shirt production is but, as in 1968 imports of MMP shirts from Hong Kong were only approximately
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