VOLUNTARY QUOTAS-POSSIBLE SOLUTION In mid-1968, while Congressional support for a mandatory quota bill on steel imports was growing, the Japanese and the European Coal and Steel Community voiced their intentions of placing voluntary quotas on their steel exports to the United States. In December of the same year, definite proposals were made whereby the Japanese and the EEC would each restrict their steel shipments here to 5,750,000 net tons, and based on the proposal total world exports to the United States were to be held to about 14 million net tons in 1969, with a 5 per cent increase in each of the following years. On the subject of product mix, the proposals were somewhat loosely worded, stating that the countries involved would try to maintain their product mix in approximately the same tonnages as previously, or that they would not change it greatly. This to some extent left the door open to a shift in the composition of steel exports to this country, and although their total volume has been reduced, more expensive steel products, including specialty steels, have been imported in increasing tonnages. Consequently, the voluntary restraint programs have intensified the competitive problems in selected steel markets, including those for specialty steels. Presently, negotiations are in progress to extend the voluntary quota arrangement for the next two years. One of the main points under discussion is the product mix, particularly in regard to specialty steels. If this can be satisfactorily resolved, it could help materially in easing the crisis facing specialty steels today. D |