TNAG-0143-FCO40-179-Exports-of-textiles-to-United-States-of-America-1969 — Page 144

CONFIDENTIAL

to

3.

the central argument that the U.S. industry has not established its need for additional

safeguards.)

I do not think that these indications change the tactics which we have been advocating that foreign countries should give nothing away and should seek to bring home to Mr. Nixon and his Administration the widespread repercussions of an insistence by the United States on damaging other countries' trade for domestic political reasons, They should be left in no doubt that in this event their trading partners would seek ways of offsetting the damage to their interests so that the U.S. must weigh the internal political embarrassment against the harm to its overseas trade and political relations if domestic considerations prevailed.

4.

An

If we succeeded in our objective of inducing the President to think again it is not at present easy to see how he could retract; he has stuck his neck out a long way. idea currently in vogue in Washington is that the domestic industry might accept as an alternative/restraint easier escape clause action on limited categories of importe; Wilbur Mills's

This would

general speech of 27 January touched on this possibility.

not be a particularly attractive solution; although it would be an improvement on textiles, it would extend the threat of specious increases in protection to imports in general. But if Mr. Nixon had second thoughts many fertile minds would be applied to helping him to climb down gracefully. We need not solve this problem just yet.

P. W. Ridley

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CONFIDENTIAL