The U.S. Department of Commerce reported today that prospects for United States exports to Israel “remain good in an economy which continues prosperous provided United States suppliers maintain effective promotional efforts for their products.”
The report noted that Israel’s gross national product “continues to grow at the impressive rate of 10 to 12 per cent a year.” The report also cited the fact that an Israel program of import liberalization, which was started at the beginning of 1962, “has freed over half of all Israeli import items from administrative import licensing controls.”
“A first modest result of this liberalization, as indicated by preliminary data, has been an increase in Israeli imports of consumer goods at the same time that larger imports of investment goods have been resumed,” the Department reported. “Since inauguration of the program in early 1962, import licenses have been granted, covering $4,200,000 in goods formerly protected. By August 1963, $1,800,000 of this had actually been imported.”
The report said that the liberalization program had been slowed down in recent months because of pressures from local producers but that administrative controls were nevertheless being removed on 23 additional commodities covering formerly protected products.
U.S. FIRMS WARNED THAT ISRAEL’S MARKET IS ‘HIGHLY COMPETITIVE
The report said that many of these items “should be of interest to United States suppliers, including irrigation pipes and fittings, plumbing fixtures, and a number of electrical items such as circuit breakers, fuses, switchboards, starters and elevators.” However, the report warned, the Israeli market was “highly competitive” and that aggressive salesmanship was required “if the United States is to maintain in 1963 the high 33 per cent share of the Israeli market attained in 1962.”
The Department noted that Israeli trade figures for the first four months of 1963 point toward a relative decline in the United States share of the Israeli market. The United States percentage of the market, 34.4 per cent in the January-April period of 1962, fell to 25.1 per cent in 1963. At the same time, other countries improved their relative positions. According to Israeli sources, total imports during January-June 1963 were $320,000,000 compared with $298,500,000 in 1962.”
The Department reported that some observers felt that a greater emphasis on effective salesmanship “would do much to increase United States sales during the remainder of the year, especially in those lines where U.S. suppliers have traditionally excelled, such as machinery and transport goods, telecommunication equipment, construction equipment and manufactured goods.”
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.
