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US, China said to reach textile deal
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-07 07:09
The United States and China have reached a tentative agreement to limit
imports of Chinese clothing and textile products into the United States, U.S.
industry officials said Saturday.
A shop assistant
puts socks on mannequin feet in a store in Beijing in this undated file
photo. [AFP] | These officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been announced, said it
could be signed as early as Tuesday when U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman
and Chinese officials will be in Geneva.
They said that the tentative deal was reached during the fifth round of
discussions, which took place over the past week in Washington. Both sides
agreed on the major issues, they said, and discussions were continuing on
details.
The deal would be similar to an agreement China reached with the 25-nation
European Union earlier this year. However, in a victory for U.S. manufacturers,
the deal would last through 2008, one year longer than the EU agreement.
U.S. textile and apparel companies and their labor unions have been pushing
for a comprehensive deal to stem a flood of Chinese imports that began last
January when global quotas, in place for more than three decades, were lifted.
The Bush administration has been reimposing quotas, known as "safeguards,"
for individual categories of clothing and textiles. The industry wanted a
comprehensive deal covering all threatened categories of U.S. production and
lasting for three years. The safeguard quotas were only good for a year at a
time.
The tentative agreement would allow for imports of most clothing and textile
categories covered by the deal to increase by 8 to 10 percent in 2006, by around
13 percent in 2007 and by around 17 percent for 2008.
All of these percentages would be above the 7.5 percent growth allowed under
the safeguard procedures.
U.S. retailers had said they would reluctantly go along with a comprehensive
deal as long as the growth in imports was sufficient to allow them to obtain
reliable supplies.
Laura E. Jones, executive director of the United States Association of
Importers of Textiles and Apparel, which represents American retailers, said
that many of the quotas imposed under the safeguard process filled up so quickly
this year that retailers were left scrambling to find alternate sources of
supply.
"When you place your orders, you need to know that it will not be a race to
the dock with no certainty you will get your shipments," Jones said.
Portman and Chinese officials will be in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday for
talks at the World Trade Organization on a global trade deal. He is scheduled to
meet Nov. 14 in Beijing with Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai.
That is one of a number of stops Portman is making to try to build momentum
for the Doha Round of global trade negotiations and critical upcoming meetings
of trade ministers in Hong Kong in December.
Portman's stop in Beijing will come just a few days before President Bush is
scheduled to visit China.
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