Speech #870036742

This situation is due to the fact that there is a voluntary import quota between the United States and Japan. but none with Hong Kong. It is no wonder that the Japanese are complaining bitterly about their being forced to abide by a quota while Hong Kong is free to ship in anything it can. The textile and apparel industries have pleaded and pleaded for an extension of the voluntary quota system. but have been rebuffed at every turn. The voluntary quota with Japan will expire at the end of the year and the Japanese have told the State Department and the Commerce Department that they will not sign another quota arrangement unless the quota system is extended. The State Department says it will not extend the quota system. unless it is forced to. and we can only expect chaos in the textile and apparel industry if the Japanese quota is allowed to expire. Industry sources have carefully estimated. based upon figures from the Bureau of the Census. that imports of garments alone in only a relatively small group of categories has resulted in a direct loss of over 23.000 jobs and an indirect loss of 8.500 jobs. or a total displacement of almost 32.000. with a total payroll loss of over $941/2 million. This is the equivalent of 127 factories. employing an average of 250 employees per factory. 50 weeks a year.