Cranston Expects Congress to Defy Reagan on Imports

U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston strongly criticized President Reagan Thursday for rejecting proposed shoe import quotas and predicted that Congress will approve trade restrictions on a wide variety of imported goods this fall.

Consumers may pay more if restrictions are imposed in order to protect domestic industries, but, “You won’t have very many consumers in America if we don’t have very many jobs,” Cranston said at a Santa Ana news conference during a daylong visit to Orange County.

The California Democrat and Senate minority whip said, “The Congress is in a strong protectionist mood and there will be a strong reaction to the President’s decision against shoe quotas.

“Mr. Reagan is living in a dream world of ‘free trade’ that has already passed away,” Cranston said. “The Congress is angry, frustrated, impatient and in a retaliatory mood. . . . Unless congressional warnings of impending counter measures and Reagan Administration negotiations cause Japan and other protectionist nations to drop their barriers to American products, I believe Congress will adopt strong trade legislation this fall,” Cranston added.

An opponent of permanent trade restrictions, Cranston said he favors legislation that would impose tariffs that can be removed once foreign nations have eased their own policies.

“What we need is a solution covering all commodities--not just shoes, not just textiles, not just any one segment of the American economy,” Cranston said.

He acknowledged that some of the fervor in Congress for retaliatory action against Japan and other nations is a form of political posturing designed to strengthen the Administration’s negotiating position with other governments.

Cranston said that Congress will carry through on its threats and warnings if negotiations fail to resolve the issue.

President Reagan, bucking the congressional mood, announced Wednesday that he would not impose shoe import quotas recommended in June by the International Trade Commission. The President’s Council of Economic Advisers estimated that such quotas could create 22,000 new jobs in the shoe industry, paying an average of $14,000 each. But additional yearly consumer costs were estimated at $26,300 for each job created.

Reagan argued that the quotas could cost consumers $3 billion over the next five years.

Cranston argued Thursday that Reagan’s decision was especially “unfortunate” because “the President didn’t get back a single concession from Brazil, Taiwan, South Korea and other foreign shoe makers.”