1 - American Memory

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CLOTHINO
Hawaii's garment industry produces island-style sportswear which meets
some of the needs of local residents for work as well as play. But unlike the
tourists in Walkiki, local residents don't normally spend all of their time in
aloha shirts, muumuus, and bikinis. We need business suits and dresses, shoes,
socks, or hose, sweaters, underwear—all of which must come from outside the
State. One large Honolulu department store estimates that only 30 percent of
its women's clothing and 20 percent of its men's clothing sales are of locally
manufactured goods. Nearly all of the rest of its stock is brought In from the
Mainland U.S.
Even the local garment industry is by no means self-sufficient. There is no
textile manufacturing In the State, except for the printing of some imported
fabrics. Until recently around 90 i>erccnt of the fabric used by local garment
manufacturers was imported from Japan. (While Japan remains the major
supplier, revaluation of the yen and rising prices in that country have caused
the industry to turn increasingly to other sources In Asia and the Mainland
U.S.) Although only a local dock tie-up can seriously Interfere with the bulk of
Hawaii's textile imports, since fabrics are largely of foreign origin, interruption
on the Mainland-Hawaii route can still affect garment production. The industry
relies on Mainland manufacturers for most of the buttons, zippers, and thread It
uses.
TBAN8P0BTATI0N EQUIPMENT
With the exception of boats and specialized truck bodies (both made from
imported materials), Hawaii manufactures no transportation equipment. All
cars, trucks, bu.ses, airplanes, tires, batterle-s, and parts must be imported.
Demand is substantial. In 1971, there were more than 42.j,000 motor vehicles
registered in the State, and new cars sold in Honolulu County alone totaled
more than 32,000.
Over half of the cars brought Into Hawaii come from Mainland ports on U.S.
vessels. In 1970, with no transportation tie-ups, American-made autos accounted
for 60 percent of the new cars sold in Honolulu County. (In strike-plagued 1971,
American cars fell to .51 percent of the total, but in 1972 they rebounded to 55
percent.) The Increasingly popular Japanese makes, which have accounted for
about one-third of new car .sales in Honolulu in recent years, are imported from
the country of origin on foreign-flag vessels, as are Volkswagen and some other
European cars. But several European makes and most EuroiJean auto parts are
shipped to Hawaii from West Coast ports on American ships.
OTHEB MACHINEBT
Hawaii's almost total lack of metal resources makes the State ultimately de-
pendent on im|)orts for all tyi)es of machinery—home, office, and industrial.
There is some machinery manufactured locally, primarily agricultural equip-
ment, but of course the raw materials are imported. All such goods as typewrit-
ers, television sets, radios, refrigerators, computers, cash registers, clothes wash-
ers and dryers, and communications equipment—as well as parts for all of
them—must be brought in from either the Mainland U.S. or abroad.
PAPEB AND ALLIED PB0DLCT8
There are no pulp or paper mills In Hawaii. We depend on Imports, either In
raw or finished form, for all of the paper products consumed in the State—paper
towels, toilet parwr, and napkins for homes; stationery, enveloi)es, and printed
forms for offices and banks; Industrial paper goods and containers for factories;
and new.sprint and coated paper for the printing industr.v. In 1970, when ship-
ping was normal, we imported more than 166.0(10 tons of pulp, paper, and printed
matter. Around 38.000 tons was newsprint, which comes primarily from Canada.
But of the remaining 128,000 tons, more than 9S percent came from the Main-
land states.
MEMCAL etJPPLIES
Hawaii depends on Mainland U.S. manufacturers for all of Its drugs and
hospital supplies. Because of the critical nature of these Items, of course, the
State has never had to do without, even in the most serious transportation