So the increases are still continuing. (3) The United States trade balance in textiles can be described in only the bleakest terms. As recently as 1961, we enjoyed an export surplus in textiles and apparel made from cotton, wool, and manmade fibers. This position reversed itself in 1962, and in each subsequent year the deficit of imports over exports has climbed rapidly. In 1966 and 1967, it was over $500 million; in 1968, it rose to more than $800 million, and last year, it amounted to almost $1 billion. A key element in this trend is manmade fiber textile product imports. Between 1966, the last surplus year for manmades, and 1969, the balance in these products shifted from a surplus of $43 million to a deficit of $348 million. The deficit in wool textile products has grown from $192 million in 1961 to almost $400 million in 1969. (4) Two key factors in the deterioration of this trade picture are, first, the existence of agreements and other unilateral measures by which other countries restrict access to their markets for the same products and; second, the large gap between wages in the United States and in other foreign textile-producing countries. Restrictions on textile and apparel imports have long been maintained by other countries on products from the same countries now shipping so heavily to the United States. I am submitting for the record a detailed listing of these limitations-insofar as we know. Other limitations established through private agreements and administrative action also contribute to the channeling of exports of these goods to the U.S. market. These administered restraints long have been the subject of international complaint, but they evidently persist in many countries. I have a list of these restrictions which I would like to submit for the record. (The document referred to follows:) FOREIGN IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ON WOOL/MAN-MADE FIBER TEXTILES (Submitted by the U.S. Department of Commerce) AUSTRIA AUSTRIA/WOOL Austro-Japanese trade agreement of November 1966 established a list of non-liberalized items which are subject to import licensing and global quotas. Certain wool yarn, fabric and apparel items are included on the non-liberalized list. Austria has trade agreements with Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Peoples Republic of Mongolia, Peoples Republic of Korea, Peoples Republic of China, USSR. Separate ceilings for wool products are not available. Japan RESTRICTION Austro-Japanese trade agreement of November 4, 1966, extended through December 31, 1969, established a list of non-liberalized items which are subject to import licensing and global quotas. The wool textile items on the nonliberalized list are given below; specific ceilings are not in force. IMPORT G COUNTRY OF Austria Item Tariff No. Worsted yarn of sheep wool, not made up for retail sale 53.07 or horse hair, made up for retail sale Woven fabrics of sheep wool or fine animal hair 53.10 Woven ribbons and ribbons without weft made from Woven fabrics coated with an adhesive or starch- Knitted fabrics by the yard, not rubber-elastic, not |