4.
but confidential: we understand that Taiwan is
prepared to reach a bilateral agreement with the USA, as is Hong Kong, but Korea is not so prepared. We further understand that the Japanese have said that they would welcome this, for bilateral agreements with other Asian suppliers would pave the way for the return of Japan to the negotiating table_7.
The U.S.Case
US imports from the Asian suppliers have increased sharply over the past few years can CT or somebody shove in a few figures showing especially Taiwan and Formosa 7.
5. But, by international standards, the US has not suffered
a large penetration of textile imports from developing countries (can Miss Elliott insert some of the UNCTAD figures) and her textile industry has not suffered the same contractions as in other countries can CT give some comparisons of mills closed, or employment lost. in the US, Germany and UK 7. We doubt whether Ambassador Kennedy would contest the view that the U.S. case is more political than economic.
Our Own Position
6. We have consistently done what we could to prevent the rapid spread of quota-type restrictions into the field of international trade in textiles. We have done this not only because we have a duty to safeguard Hong Kong, but because a rot in any part of the GATT structure threatens to spread to the whole fabric.
Thus, the international community has been successful for a decade in maintaining the fiction that cotton textiles are special (as is agriculture) but we now judge it expedient to move cautiously towards a new fiction - that all textiles are special. But we are doing this on the assumption that, if the particular problem on textiles in the United States can be isolated, other protectionist pressures can successfully be contained. The US tends to think (with some justice) that it has been more
/liberal
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