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THE PERISCOPE
BUSINESS TRENDS

NEW PROTECTIONIST PLAN

Trade protectionist forces are preparing to try out a new strategy on Congress.

The Committee for Import-Export Policy, composed of representatives of 40 industries, will drop proposals for flat quotas on foreign goods and suggest instead a more flexible system based on the total size of the market. 

Under this plan, foreign manufacturers would be allotted a certain percentage of the U.S market.

Imports, thus, would rise or fall at the same rate as over-all consumption. 

The proposal is expected to be introduced in the House soon. And with the U.S. trade surplus dwindling as imports pour into the country, protectionists are optimistic about the prospects.

Even Administration officials, who have insistently opposed import curbs, acknowledge that the new plan has a fair chance.

Foreign Aircraft Competition
U.S. military-aircraft manufacturers are becoming increasingly worried over the inroads of foreign competitor into their international markets.

Country after country is replacing American-built planes with foreign versions. Denmark, for example, recently chose Sweden's Saab over Northrop's F-5 while both Peru and Belgium opted for the French Mirage.

"We simply cannot match their price-cutting," laments one U.S. aircraft sales executive.

Privately, some government officials now doubt that the U.S. can attain its 1968 goal of snaring $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion of the multibillion dollar military-aircraft market.

And bigger problems may lie ahead. Aerospace men fear that major European countries may form a consortium to build military planes.

CURING THE PILOT SHORTAGE
Government experts are so alarmed about the growing shortage of qualified pilots that the Labor Department is undertaking a special study of the problem.

The results of the study, requested by the De
fense Department and the Federal Aviation Agency, will form the basis of a government program to insure that enough pilots and mechanics are trained for future airline needs.

New figures indicate that the pool of new pilots is being rapidly exhausted. Between 1960 and 1967, the number of pilots absorbed by commercial aviation skyrocketed 76% from 34,000 to 60,000.

If that kind of drain continues, says one Labor Department official, "we're going to have real problems."

One solution being pondered in government circles: a chain of FAA training schools across the country.

OFF THE TICKER
Major corporations reporting improved first-quarter earnings: Chrysler, up 281% to $69.3 million; Reynolds Tobacco, up 13% to $36 million; Aluminum Co. of America, up 12.8% to $30.7 million; Xerox, up 13% to $28.8 million, Standard Oil Co. (N.J.) says it has developed a chemical that will disintegrate oil slicks on the sea and clean fouled up beaches without harming marine life.

Competition between American, TWA and United airlines on the lucrative New York to Chicago route is heating up. Both TWA and United have announced hourly service and American plans to provide departures every half hour. Boeing Co. is working on plans for a trijet capable of Mach 1.4 speeds without encountering heavy sonic-boom problems. Japan's giant steel companies, Fuji and Yawata, plan to merge to become the world's second-largest steel producer (after U.S. Steel) with an output of 22 million tons annually.

Hunt Foods, which owns about 35% of Canada Dry and 57% of McCall Corp, common stock, is discussing a plan to merge the three companies into a giant conglomerate with sales of almost $1 billion. Whittaker Corp plans to spend $203 million to acquire Crucible Steel. Interior Department has granted Sun Oil Co. the right to import 60,000 barrels of foreign oil per day for processing at the company's proposed Puerto Rican facility. Long vacations: California research group predicts that Americans will have to work only six months a year by 1985 to maintain the standard of living they have now.

Newsweek, April 29, 1968
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Transcription Notes:
USE CAPITALS WHERE SEEN.