Sen. Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D. NJ) has disclosed that there has been a huge jump in Arab boycott activities involving U.S. firms in the past three years. He said figures supplied by the Department of Commerce show a nearly 30-fold increase in the dollar value of U.S. exports involved in boycott-affected transactions.
The figures revealed that in 1973 some $7 million worth of American-made goods were involved in transactions in which the exporter was asked for information related to the boycott which encompasses firms which do business with or in Israel, and in some cases firms with Jewish owners In 1974 the dollar value of goods in such transactions rose to nearly $10 million. However, this year there has been a surge in such transactions, with the total so far approaching $204 million.
Williams said that requests for boycott-related information have been initiated at least once from all of the 20-member countries of the Arab Boycott League except five — Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Somalia and Mauritania.
SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT LEAD
The leader in such requests is Saudi Arabia which, since 1972, has initiated 31,422. The next largest number have come from Kuwait, which has initiated 860 since 1972. However, this year Kuwait initiated the greatest number — 220 — and Saudi Arabia is second with 194. Information comes from private companies. Certain governments, notably Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, require commercial documents to contain restrictive trade certificates as a prerequisite to allowing goods to be imported.
Referring to the surge in the dollar value of U.S. exports involved in the boycott-affected transaction, Williams said: “These statistics are extremely unsettling. They document an alarming increase in attempts by foreign nations to coerce American business into discriminatory trade practices. In my judgment, this is dramatic evidence of the need for legislation to insure against any further penetration of our economy by foreign interests which instigate such boycott activities.”
William, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Securities, is the author of the Foreign Investment Act of 1975, which is now pending, and of an amendment to that bill which would prohibit foreigners who instigate business boycotts from making large investments in U.S. companies. The figures released by Williams were collected by the Commerce Department pursuant to a provision of the Export Administration Act of 1969. It requires exporters to report within 15 business days and requests they receive for information related to an economic boycott. The Commerce Department has until now refused to make public much of the boycott information. Williams requested it on March 13 and finally received a partial response after a protracted dialogue with the Department, including a meeting in his office with Undersecretary John K. Tabor.
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