Final answer:
The U.S. introduced fabric restrictions through the international Multifiber Agreement, which specified quotas for textile imports from 1974 to 2004 to protect domestic industries. Similar quotas have also been applied to other sectors, such as the automotive and sugar industries.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the fabric restrictions that were introduced in the U.S., which is a historical topic related to trade policies. During the 1970s, the United States, among other developed countries, faced a decline in their textile industries due to the ability of producers to establish lower-cost factories in developing countries. To address this, the developed countries created the international Multifiber Agreement, which ran from 1974 to 2004. This agreement specified the exact quota of textile imports that each developed country would accept from each low-income country. The agreement aimed to "manage" the loss of jobs and income for domestic producers by essentially dividing the market for textile exports between importers and domestic producers. Another example of trade control through import quotas was during the early 1980s when the Reagan Administration imposed a quota on the import of Japanese automobiles. Additionally, sugar imports into the United States are still governed by quotas, highlighting the continued use of import restrictions to manage trade.