§ 130. Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the position of the cotton and man-made fibre textile industry and the long delay in the publication of up-to-date figures of production and employment, he will arrange with the Textile Council for provisional figures and information to be made available in the Library.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuI would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 16th February, 1967. The Textile Council do not consider that reliable estimates can be prepared any sooner than at present I am arranging for the Library to receive each month a copy of the Textile Council's press statement containing these figures.
§ Mr. McGuireasked the President of the Board of Trade what action he proposes to take immediately to assist the textile industry; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. JayThis Government have already imposed severe restrictions on imports of cotton textiles from most countries in the world for five years up to the end of 1970. The expanded and reconstituted Textile Council has been set up. I am discussing with the Council the need for a special committee to advise me on the import situation. My officials are in close touch with the Council and the industry to see whether there is evidence of foreign dumping or subsidisation and of its effects on the industry. We have had, and will continue to have, the industry's problems constantly in mind in discussions in the Cotton Textiles Committee of the G.A.T.T. and elsewhere; and we are working with the new Textile Council on a major study of productivity in all its aspects. I expect the industry, for its part, to take the fullest advantage of the breathing space we have provided to increase its own competitiveness. Production of man-made fibre yarn increased in January.