Word: shoes
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...industries from foreign competition. More than 200 trade bills have been introduced, and protectionist sentiment is becoming so strong that it could overshadow all other political issues this fall. While Reagan, with considerable reason and courage, has opposed protectionist measures and last week decided against helping the domestic shoe industry (see ECONOMY & BUSINESS), he is taking a heavy political risk. Part of his problem is that he has let the trade issue get away from him, instead of forcefully dealing with it earlier in the year, when a clear-cut Administration policy might have alleviated some of the pressure...
...some 75% of sales in the U.S. this year. But if American manufacturers have lost the battle in the marketplace, they have tried to recoup in the political arena. For more than a year the industry has been waging a campaign to persuade President Reagan to impose quotas on shoes made overseas. Enlisted in the effort were 168 Congressmen, 40 Senators and 20 Governors, who sent letters or telegrams to the President. Shoe workers staged a two-day vigil in Lafayette Square, across from the White House...
...industry, however, has been no more successful in politics than in shoe stores. Last week the President resisted the pressure and refused to approve shoe quotas. "Protectionism is both ineffective and extremely expensive," he said. "It is a crippling cure, far more dangerous than any economic illness...
...Administration's rejection of relief for the shoe industry is sure to exacerbate the clamor in Congress to impose quotas, raise tariffs and otherwise stifle free trade. There are now more than 200 bills on Capitol Hill that seek aid for products ranging from petrochemicals to waterbed liners. As the trade deficit grows to an estimated $150 billion this year, the drive to block imports is gaining momentum...
Last May the International Trade Commission decided that shoe imports were causing "serious injury" to the domestic industry. The I.T.C. in June ruled, 4 to 1, that the Government should limit imports of nonrubber shoes valued at more than $2.50 to 474 million pairs for the first two years of a five-year quota plan. Such a program would have stepped on plenty of toes. Footwear prices would probably have risen by as much as 15% in the first year. While protectionist measures may save some jobs, consumers almost always suffer because the limit on supplies drives up prices...