Imports Policies Are Called Unfair
“The virtually unrestricted flow of
textile imports into this coimtry is
working to nullify our strong commit
ment to provide jobs for the unskilled
in tinderdeveloped areas of our own
country,” the president of the textile
industry’s central trade association told
Congress.
Testifying at foreign trade hearings
being conducted by the House Ways and
Means Committee, Frederick B. Dent,
president of Mayfair Mills, Arcadia, S.
C., and president of the American Tex
tile Manufacturers Institute, said, “When
we have such critical needs at home,
the United States no longer can afford
to use textile trade as a means of creat
ing jobs and prosperity overseas.
“A growing textile industry can be
the vehicle for putting some of our
underdeveloped areas on their feet eco
nomically by providing the needed jobs,”
Mr. Dent said.
Provides A Million Jobs
Pointing out that one out of every
four manufacturing jobs in the Appa
lachia Development Region is in the tex
tile industry and that the fiber-textile-
apparel complex provides one million
jobs in and around Appalachia, Mr.
Dent said, “There is no area of the
United States where the importance of
the textile industry, and its hundreds of
thousands of jobs for diverse skills, is
better illustrated than in the Appalachia
Development Region.
“Negro employment in the textile
mill industry has grown rapidly in re
cent years. The textile mill industry in
1967 provided employment for more
than 82,000 Negroes. While overall tex
tile employment has increased by only
2.8 per cent since 1960, employment of
Negroes has increased by 270 per cent.
This has meant more than 52,000 new
jobs for Negroes* in the textile mill in
dustry, primarily in southern states.”
Charges Unfair Competition
Mr. Dent charged that the United
States is practicing “one-sided ideal
ism” which is forcing many American
industries to compete on the basis of
unfair trade.
He said the United States is taking
“more than its fair share” of textile
imports from the less-developed coun
tries .
“The United States absorbed 82 per
cent of the total textile exports of 19
less-developed countries to the European
Economic Community, Japan, and the
U. S. A.,” he said. “Japan let in one
per cent and the EEC, with about the
same population as the U. S. A., took
17 per cent of the total. The LDC’s
together had large textile trade deficits
with Japan and with the EEC.”
At the same time, he said, “Subsides
paid by foreign governments on sales
of textiles to the United States are cre
ating conditions of imfair competition
and market disruption.” He cited ex
amples of how Japan, Taiwan, Mexico,
Brazil, and the nations of the European
Economic Community subsidize manu
facturers selling textiles in the United
States market.
“In view of the subsidies being paid
on textile exports to the United States,
the non-tariff barriers raised against
U. S. textile exports around the world,
and the bilateral agreements between
foreign nations, the real questions are,
why does not the United States govern
ment invoke our right of retaliation, and
why does not free trade mean fair
trade?” Mr. Dent asked.
He pointed out that imports of cotton
textiles have doubled over the last six
years that wool textile imports went up
by 50 per cent and imports of man-made
fiber textile products increased by 470
per cent.
During the first quarter of 1968, he
said, imports of cotton, man-made fiber
and wool textiles “reached an all-time
high annual rate of 3.1-billion square
yards, a 14 per cent increase over the
previous record” (2.8-billion square
yards in 1966).
Trade Deficit $7G6-Million
Mr. Dent said the United States’ tex
tile trade deficit in 1967 was $766-mil-
lion and that this deficit exists because
the American textile industry must com
pete with products manufactured “un
der wage rates and working conditions
illegal in this country.
“Should a textile article which could
not be shipped legally across state lines
were it manufactured in the United
States be allowed open access in un
limited volume to this market provided
only that the sweatshop is located 12
miles offshore?” he asked.
He said the solution to the textile im
port problem lies in passage of the
Mills Bin which has been co-sponsored
by 196 members of the House of Rep
resentatives.
Retiree Enjoys Life
This Fieldcrest retiree is a real
swinger.
He is Troy Priddy, who retired from
the Karastan Mill in 1966 -with over 42
years of continuous service. He was a
weaver during most of his years with
the Company.
Mr. Priddy lives on Highway 87, be
tween Eden and Reidsville. He raises a
Copyright, 1968, Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.
Eden, N. C. 17288
Issued Every Other Monday For Employees
and Friends of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.
OTIS MARLOWE
EDITOR
Member, South Atlantic
Council Of Industrial
Editors
ADVISORY BOARD
J. S. Eggleston J. J. Beck
A. H. Justice J. L. Crabtree
R. B. Mitchell W. F. Crumley
J. M. Moore R. F- Bell
J. M. Rimmer P. A. Brodie
REPORTING STAFF
Alexander Sheeting Mill Edna Brigli
Pauline Yelto"
Automatic Blanket Plant Janice Ennj,
Bedspread Finishing Mill Ann Midku
Bedspread Mill Edna Hoppej
Blanket Mill Katherine Turner
Central Warehouse Geraldine Perkiii’
Dallas Service Center Barbara Aldrieg'
Draper Offices Mamie Dickson
Fieldale Towel Mill Faye Warren
General Offices Hilda Grogen
Gladys Holland, Katherine ManleV
Karastan Mill Irene MeeK*
Karastan Service Center Mary Stephen’
Karastan Spinning Div Evelyn Beasley
Laurelcrest Carpets Carolyn Brannn
Midwest Service Center Shirley McGO”'
Mount Holly Barbara Collin’
Muscogee Mill Mildred Newsom*
New York Offices Betty Lencse’
Northeast Service Center Mary Kulpej
Nye-Walt Plant Mary Spey
Sheet Finishing Mill Faye LighJ
Sheeting Mill Ruth Mints'
Winchester Spinning Mill Ann Wilso"
Vol. XXVII Mon., Aug. 5, 1968,
ERVICE
Anniversaries
Forty-five Years
Sverre K. Stranger Fieldcrest Sale®
Thirty-five Years
W. Hasten Horsley ToW^I
Pattie B. Minter Blank®*
Mae M. Terry FinishiD^
Melvin G. Rakes ToW®*
Twenty-five Years
Sara H. Harrell Muscog®®
Laola B. Harris Bedsprea®
Ila H. Shelton Finishing
Twenty Years
James F. Minter Sheeting
Vergie G. Crowe ToW
Mary A. Ennis Muscog®®
Fifteen Years
E. Bernard Bowles To\V®j j
Mae H. Turner ToW®* |
Joe J. Mahagany Muscog®® j
William K. Sturrock .... Fieldcrest Sal®*
French J. Mock Finishih®
Richard Eggleston, Jr Finishia®
Ten Years
J. David Nance Special*
Luther M. Martin Muscog®^
Melvin B. Franklin General Offi®®’
“small garden” (2 acres) and enjoys ^
number of activities, including ridipj
his son-in-law’s motorcycle. He sai®;
“Retirement gets sweeter every day^
THE MILL WHISTbJ^