ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the work to show how the British cotton textile industry negotiated agreements with the industries of India, Pakistan and Hong Kong to restrict imports into the United Kingdom. The government introduced stringent quotas on Japanese imports to the British market and persuaded colonial governments to do the same. As in the pre-war period, it is doubtful, however, whether this piecemeal protection seriously affected the pattern of world trade in cotton textiles. In 1958, the government also introduced a stringent quota on imports of Chinese cotton textiles, mainly to strengthen the negotiating hand of delegations from Lancashire, who by then were trying to secure VERs with Indian, Pakistan and Hong Kong industrialists. In 1955, the President of the Board of Trade, Peter Thorneycroft, ruled out further protection, but argued that the Purchase Tax on cotton textiles should be reduced to stimulate demand for cotton textiles.
