TNAG-0303-FCO40-339-Effects-of-tariffs-on-imports-of-cotton-textiles-to-UK-from--1971 — Page 129

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No. 51

29 NOV 1971

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CONFIDENTIAL

Mr Dodds (Commodities Department)

BRITISH TEXTILE IMPORT POLICY

1.

Milan 2017/29/1 En

Your minute received this afternoon soliciting comments on the various drafts prepared by DTI in the confidence that their views would prevail in EPC.

2.

I agree with your general impression that the drafts are awful. They could scarcely be otherwise given that we presumably did foresee or should have foreseen the conjuncture of circumstances now to be pleaded as justification for our change of policy at the time when we were explaining that policy to the CPA Governments affected. I agree nevertheless that the drafts make a poor attempt at justifying a bad

case.

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3.

All the same, I think there is something in the argument advanced in Mr Ridley's minute of 23 November that we should avoid seeking to rest. our decision solely or primarily on the plight of Lancashire. is not the moment for justifying our policies on the kind of dubious grounds which have lain behind US action in the textile field, particularly since (if my memory serves) the role of imports in Lancashire's misfortunes is doubtful. Given the foregoing, however, I am not clear what DTI are getting at in their reference to US restrictions in the fifth paragraph of their draft telegram. This should be either omitted or the thought (whatever it is) spelt out. As it is it might almost seem to be meant as a forewarning of further proposals for further restrictions on our textile imports.

4.

I have one other comment from the TPD angle. The drafts (paragraphs 9-10 of the aide memoire and paragraph 9 of the speech) keep saying that by having both tariff and quotas "we are only doing what every other industrialised country has been doing already for a long time" This is where we come to the duty- free quotas accorded by the EEC under their generalised preference scheme. DTI have put at the end of the draft telegram the bald statement that we cannot "consider the policy of including textiles in our UNCTAD offer at least until after entry into the EEC". In the enclosure to my minute of 11 November to Mr Hale I attempted to set out the reasons why, in our view, FCO should press DTI to do precisely the opposite. If we now have a new situation which justifies the retention of quotas after the introduction of the tariff on cottons, we equally have a new situation in relation to the inclusion of textiles in our GPS arrangements. We must therefore challenge DTI on this, beginning with a request for them to state their reasons why we cannot envisage any move on textiles before January 1973. Since our observations hitherto

/have

CONFIDENTIAL

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