Tabbed data in tab-separated output

I have a table which has a few VARCHAR columns whose first character
is a tab. If I run pg_dump on this table, it outputs data like this:

43158 \t555-1212 3

where the two embedded white spaces are actually tabs.

If I use psql to execute SQL to dump parts of the table, like this:

psql -qtA -f '\t' -U xyzzy xyzzy -c 'select ... >/tmp/xxx

I get this:

43158 310-319-1333, x1070 3

where that initial embeded white space represents two tabs. When I
use psql to restore this data, it thinks the 2nd column is empty and
complains that the third column is the wrong type.

pg_dump apparently is smart enough to print embedded tabs as escaped
chars, but not psql. Is there a fix for this? I thought of reverting
to standard output, without the -t option, and analyzing the first two
lines to tell exactly how many spaces are assigned to each column, but
that gives me the shudders.

--
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Felix Finch: scarecrow repairman & rocket surgeon / felix(at)crowfix(dot)com
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