Israeli officials were reported today to be awaiting an official communication from U.S. authorities before determining the full impact of the meaning of the cotton textile import bill passed by Congress which is now in the White House for signature. The measure is designed to curtail import quotas to non-members of the 1961 Genoa cotton textile agreement. Israel is not a member of the agreement.
Under terms of the bill, the President would have authority to order reductions in imports of cotton textiles from foreign nations in the interest of protecting the U.S. textile industry. Quotas would be set on the basis of last year’s imports but would also be subject to modification at Presidential discretion.
This latter clause is keeping alive Israeli hopes that the restrictions imposed on Israel will be tempered somewhat. The Israel Embassy here has been making representations to Administration officials regarding the serious effect a sharp curtailment of Israel cotton imports would have on Israel’s domestic economy. These meetings, reportedly, have provided some encouragement that the restrictions on Israeli imports will be less sharp than might be expected.
An Embassy official pointed out that Israel’s behavior in the months preceding passage of the bill is one of the highly favorable factors on its side. He said that Israel had informed its exporters that the law was imminent, and despite its imminence, had cooperated fully with the U.S. desire to keep imports at a minimum. Israel, he said, made no effort to ship as much goods as possible during the period of negotiations in order to beat the deadline.
As an example of this exemplary attitude, he pointed out that currently waiting in Haifa harbor are about 400 tons of yarn for which orders in the United States have already been placed. The shipment has temporarily been embargoed by order of the Israel Government, pending final word from Washington on the full effect of the law. The spokesman contrasted Israel’s self-restraint with Egypt which, he said, has been shipping large quantities of textiles to the U. S. for several months in anticipation of the ban.
A stringent quota, or a total ban, the spokesman said, would have a serious effect on Israel’s textile industry and its employment picture. He said that Israelis cotton exports to the United States now makes up between 25 and 40 percent of the industry’s total output. The quotas are expected to extend only to carded yarns, but there is a possibility that they could also be applied to actual specific manufactured products. The self-embargoed shipment now waiting in the Haifa port consists of carded yarns.
More definite word on how the quota might affect Israel was expected sometime early next week.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
