1 High-grade steel cannot be made without cobalt and manganese, the domestic supplies of which are totally inadequate. Therefore users of steel should be considered as dependent upon imports for which at present no domestic substitutes are available.

III. DETAILED FINDINGS OF THE GENERAL SURVEY

(A) DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT

The Eighth Congressional District of New Jersey comprises all of Passaic County with the exception of Ringwood Borough and West Milford Township. While the northern part is primarily a farm and vacation area, the southern section is one of the highly industrialized regions around New York City. Its industry is diversified and employs many people in the textile and apparel fields, in the manufacture of electrical goods, rubber products, machinery and chemicals. This area, and especially two of its principal cities, Paterson and Passaic, was once known as the silk center of America.

Almost all types of labor are available, and industries in this district are close to supplies and suppliers and close to America's No. 1 market-the New York metropolitan area.

The district is served by three railroads, by express highways, by river transportation, and is close to Newark Airport.

The 1950 census gives the population as 337,093, and 35 percent of it is engaged in industry.

(B) MAJOR INDUSTRIAL DIVISIONS

Table 1 below shows the importance of manufacturing to the district. It accounts for 64.2 percent of all persons employed in industry.

TABLE 1.-Major industrial divisions by number of employees 1

1 New Jersey Industrial Directory, Hudson Dispatch, Union City, N. J., Apr. 1954, p. B299. TABLE 2.-Comparative employment in major manufacturing groups in eighth district

! Manufacturing firms were assigned to manufacturing groups in accordance with the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, Vol. 1, Executive Office of the President, Bureau of the Budget: Washington, D. C. 1945.

1. Description of the firms surveyed

The major divisions within manufacturing industry in the district are listed in table 2. It is helpful to keep in mind the comparative importance of these divisions. The number of employees in each of these categories is shown both for the district and for the firms surveyed. The companies covered by the sample represent 34 percent of the total manufacturing employment in the district. The discrepancy between columns 2 and 5 is accounted for by the nature of the sample selection procedure and by the fact that an additional 7 very large firms included in column 2 are not included in column 5, but are treated separately in the Top Ten survey.

It will be seen from table 3 below that the majority of the firms surveyed are small, employing fewer than 50 people. This holds true also for the companies within each industrial group. The only categories having a majority of larger firms are the electrical goods, primary metals, and miscellaneous vehicles groups.

75018-5636

TABLE 3.-Relative size of companies surveyed, November 1954-June 1955

2. Data on subsidiary and foreign investment

Sixteen of the firms surveyed with 14 percent of the total district labor force (40 percent of the workers covered by the survey) are divisions or subsidiaries of larger firms. Four each of these are in the textile, chemical, and electrical goods field. Twelve of the firms have branches or subsidiaries outside the United States, principally in Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, and South Africa. Eleven firms have foreign investments.

3. Interest of firms surveyed in exports and import competition

All firms were asked whether they export their products either directly or indirectly and whether they face competition from foreign-made products for the American market. On the basis of their replies, they were classed in the following

categories:2

A. Import competitive interest: Firms which consider imports to be competitive and which do not export their products.

B. Mixed interest: Firms which consider imports to be competitive and which also export their products.

C. Export interest: Firms which export and which do not consider imports to be competitive with their products.

D. No expressed interest: Firms which neither export nor consider imports to be competitive with their products.

Table 4 on the facing page shows: 86 percent of the workers are employed by firms that either export or are concerned with competitive imports or both.

Category A: 6 percent of the labor force-employed by firms (21 percent) which consider imports to be competitive and do not export;

Category B: 56 percent of the labor force-employed by firms (22 percent) which consider imports to be competitive but which also export;

Category C: 24 percent of the labor force-employed by firms (26 percent) which export and do not consider imports to be competitive;

Category D: 14 percent of the labor force-employed by firms (31 percent) having no expressed interest in exports or competitive imports.

Although it is not possible to discern the balance of interest in firms facing foreign competition who are also exporters (mixed interest, category B), generally "producers are more aware of the competitive effects of imports than they are concerned with the present foreign sales or potential export markets."

(a) Export interest.-By combining the number of companies in categories B and C in table 4, the total interest in exports can be measured Forty-eight percent of the companies, employing 80 percent of the labor force export part of their production: 53 percent of the firms export less than 3 percent of their total production; 18 percent export from 3 to 5 percent; and 22 percent of the companies sell from 5 to 10 percent of their production abroad. Thirteen of the 234 firms surveyed export more than 10 percent, including 8 who sell between 15 and 30 percent outside the United States. There are 4 companies (in the textile, food, and miscellaneous vehicle groups) which export from 60 to 90 percent of their production.

Five percent or less may seem small until it is compared with the national export figures. Approximately 4.5 percent of the gross national product is exported. To the company concerned, 5 percent can and often does mean the difference between profit and loss.

TABLE 5.-Size, percent and number of companies who export as of November 1954-June 1955

This is the breakdown used in Foreign Trade and the Fourth Congressional District of New Jersey, Harold T. Lamar, Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D. C. November

1954.

3 Ibid., p. 43.

It may seem unfair to combine together those firms having a small export interest with those having a heavy interest. The same may be said with regard to import competition, the degree of which was un assessed. However, it is felt that the method used will give an overall picture of the interests in the district. Pending Trade Issues, League of Women Voters of the United States, November 1954.