CR/EIC.213/5/11 II
Dear Peter,
COPY
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5 August
1969
I was just about to write to ask you to prod our Norwegian friends about their intentions regarding our non-cotton restraints which expire on 30 September when I saw your letter of 28 July to Fred Yeung, for which many thanks.
Although there has been a decline in textile-garment employment, it is pretty small. In fact it could probably be shown that one reason for the Norwegian textile industry's difficulties is that they are not improving productivity and reducing employment fast enough, i.e. that they are uncompetitive because there are too many workers in the industry. Mere reduction of employment in the textile industry doesn't prove injury to the industry. As your Counsellor said in our talks in Oslo last year 'Yes, Mr. Haerum, but how many of these people are actually out of work? Un- employment in Norway is at an all-time low'. Are there therefore any general unemployment figures that could be used to counter a Norwegian argument based on textile unemployment'? E.g. I see that the Financial
Times on 10 July reported the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics as saying that the labour market was becoming increasingly tight... the number of unemployed wage-earners fell from 2% of the labour force in January to 1.2% in April. But this could be purely seasonal in the Scandinavian climate.
I wrote to Jerving on 21 July. I am sorry I forgot to send the Embassy a copy but enclose one now. I have heard nothing from him so I wonder if you could follow up with a call on him fairly soon. We are getting anxious because we have a number of other things boiling up and must also fit in our Annual Review with the Americans on our Cotton Bilateral before 30 September.
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The position has altered slightly to the extent that the Cotton Textiles Committee is now expected to meet in Geneva from 8 - 10 October. fortnight before that the week commencing 22 September will be on the late side so far as our trade is concerned. We should accordingly prefer the week commencing 15 September, or even earlier, but will, of course, accept the week commencing 22 September if that is the best that can be done. It will, naturally, suit us even better if they dropped the whole idea of these restraints!
I am sorry I haven't written before to thank you for all your help while we were in Oslo, and particularly for the most efficient logistical support, which made things very much easier.
Yours sincerely,
P.J. Streams, Esq., British Embassy, Commercial Department, Thomas Heftyesgate 8,
Oslo, Norway.
(Sgd.) D.H. Jordan
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