[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1514-S1515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WAKE UP: TRADE MATTERS

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I would like to draw my colleagues' 
attention to a short interview that appeared this morning in USA Today. 
In it, textile businessman Roger Milliken outlines the inaccuracies in 
the present-day argument that only free trade can improve our Nation's 
economy. With a plethora of hard facts, Mr. Milliken debunks this myth 
by focusing on the real problem: America does not have real trade 
troubles with nations that accept and sell products from America. 
America's trade problems are with countries like Japan and China that 
won't let American products into their markets.
  Across the Nation, columnist and now Presidential candidate Pat 
Buchanan has opened up the wound of disinvestment in America. Unlike 
the Washington pundits and experts, people across America know that 
trade matters. Hard-working people have a tremendous disaffection with 
our trade policies and that unsettledness is bound to grow.
  Mr. President, Roger Milliken hit the nail on the head of trade in 
this interview. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From USA Today, Mar. 5, 1996]

              Textile Magnate Critiques Recent Trade Deals

       Roger Milliken, the South Carolina textile magnate, is a 
     leading advocate of protectionist trade policies and a major 
     contributor to GOP presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan 
     and other conservative politicians and causes. In a rare 
     interview, Milliken tells USA Today's Beth Belton why he 
     thinks recent trade deals have been a mistake.
       Q: You're against free trade, right?
       A: Stop right there. We do believe in free trade. We have 
     plants offshore. We have one in Japan and 11 in Europe. But 
     the products we make are all sold in those countries. We 
     don't take advantage of low labor costs to bring products 
     back and destroy U.S. jobs.
       Q: But you are against the North American Free Trade 
     Agreement. Do you have plants in Canada or Mexico?
       A: No. And we wouldn't consider either country because I've 
     studied history, and I've found that no country has ever 
     remained a major economic factor in the world that has lost 
     its own manufacturing. . . . We have a manufactured goods 
     trade deficit of $174 billion, and if you use Clinton 
     administration figures that every $1 billion of exports 
     supports 20,000 jobs, it's not far-fetched to say that if we 
     didn't have a deficit, we would have 3.4 million more 
     manufacturing jobs in the U.S. than we have.
       Q: The USA has been losing manufacturing jobs for decades, 
     and many economists say technology, not trade is the reason. 
     You disagree?
       A: Technology companies in this country pay lower wages 
     than textile companies. The biggest piece--$52 billion--of 
     our $174 billion goods trade deficit is in autos and auto 
     parts. The second is textiles and apparel--$37 billion. We're 
     talking about year-round, full-time jobs. Most of the U.S. 
     jobs created now are in the tourist trade or part-time fast-
     food jobs. These jobs don't pay benefits. They don't hold the 
     family together. The turnover rate in the fast-food business 
     is 250%. There's nothing steady or stabilizing to the economy 
     about that.
       Q: But don't statistics from your home state, South 
     Carolina, show trade is helping create manufacturing jobs?
       A: I take total exception to that. Four weeks ago in 
     Spartanburg County, where I live, five textile plants closed 
     down permanently. That's 800 jobs. Sure, the state gained 
     6,000 jobs last year because foreign companies invested in 
     South Carolina.

[[Page S1515]]

     That's absolutely terrific. But if we put in more 
     protectionist laws, more of those jobs would be coming here. 
     Foreign companies would have to locate here to get U.S. 
     business.
       Q: Has NAFTA increased export demand for cloth and other 
     products?
       A: It's not true, and it's worse than that because what 
     everybody isn't told is that the textile industry today is 
     operating six days a week instead of seven, or five days 
     instead of six. Most of them have cut off the third shift or 
     are closing one day a month because imports are hurting 
     demands here.
       Q: What's the solution?
       A: I'd like to see us withdraw from the World Trade 
     Organization. The U.S. has one vote. Cuba can cancel our 
     vote. Or St. Kitts, an island in the (Caribean). . . .We also 
     want higher tariffs. Our opponents say that would prompt 
     retalization. I don't know how anybody retaliates against 
     their best customer. I would love to retaliate against some 
     of my best customers who treat us badly.
       Q: Why are you speaking out now?
       A: We're a private company and we like to stay private, but 
     we're fighting for our industry. We have 14,000 employees in 
     the U.S., and one of my jobs is to fight for preservation of 
     those jobs.
       Q: Didn't some in the textile industry support passage of 
     NAFTA?
       A: It was a split vote in the industry. There were some who 
     believed the industry might benefit. They believed no textile 
     plants would go to Mexico. But already we see plants setting 
     up there, where all-in costs are $2 an hour compared to $12 
     an hour in the U.S.
       Q: Have you had to downsize?
       A: No, but I have to tell you we're running on curtailed 
     schedules and the industry has had to close 12 plants in an 
     economy that's growing all over. We ought to be a growing 
     industry. We ought to be creating jobs.
       Q: What about plans to expand?
       A: We plan to continue expanding. Last year, we bought a 
     company in Japan that makes fabric for auto interiors. When 
     you deal with international auto companies, one of their 
     requirements is that you be located in parts of the world 
     where they can exchange products.
       Q: You don't often give interviews. Why?
       A: The media emphasize the growth in exports and the jobs 
     created by exports. There are figures collected by the 
     government that are put together very skillfully. But there 
     is no way to look at government figures to find out how many 
     jobs have been lost to imports. I hear a lot of talk about 
     the growth of exports but hardly anyone talks about the 
     growth of imports, which in percentage terms are slightly 
     less. But in absolute numbers, the U.S. imports three times 
     as much as it exports.

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