China:Sino-US textile parleys to continue

    China:Sino-US textile parleys to continue

    China and US has decided to conduct next trade meeting on the textile trade disputes as early as possible. Before the next round talks could happen, each side is considering its own next steps amid uncertainties of the pending issue.

    At the press conference on July 25, Lu Jianhua, Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said China would resume the temporary export license for textile exports to the US once the two sides reach a consensus on trade management cooperation, a similar move as China has taken to its textile exports to EU.

    Lu said this proposal had got "positive responses" from the US side and discussions over some "technical issues" were underway. The US is willing to give a careful consideration on China''s proposal on the export growth rate and management cooperation. The two sides also agreed to maintain smooth communication channels.

    Lu expressed China''s willingness to talk with the US with an "active and open mind so as to find solutions to the textile issue that can satisfy both sides".

    Lu said China had noticed the US recent delaying of the decision on whether it would restrict Chinese woolen trousers and synthetic fibre cloth. The United States also promised to use special restrictive measures "very prudently".

    China has repeatedly expressed its objection to the US restriction on export of Chinese textiles. The issue has aroused deep concern of the central government over the difficulties faced by Chinese manufacturers due to the US abuse of Article 242. 

    Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi told US officials at the 16th JCCT that the US abuse of Article 242 had severely harmed both the feeling of the Chinese people and the confidence of the Chinese public and enterprises about the international multi-lateral trade systems. Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai also negotiated with the US on this issue when he attended the OECD meeting, APEC meeting and WTO Mini-ministerial meeting.

    Besides that, Lu made it very clear at the press conference that China would reserve its right to further actions within the WTO framework. He accused the US limits of deflecting the free trade principles advocated by the World Trade Organization and conflicting with the premise conditions for using Article 242 in the legal documents concerning China''s WTO accession.

    In May the US made the first limits decision on 7 certain textile imports from China based on its customs statistics for the first 4 months of the year. The US customs claimed that imports of the 7 categories reached 1.42 billion USD, involving cotton trousers, cotton knit shirts, underwear, MMF trousers, MMF knit shirts, men?ˉs woven shirts and combed cotton yarn. It said men''s woven shirts took 15.9 percent of the US market, the highest out of Chinese textile products and combed cotton yarn''s 3.2 percent was the least out of the textile imports from China.

    The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles has issued an urgent notice on July 24 calling on textile producers to halt further exports in the six categories under restriction except yarn as the US has stopped importing of these products. These producers may find themselves in a situation of "no quotas" left in the second half of this year. 

    Another 6 categories are still under the investigation: synthetic fibre cloth, sweater, woolen trousers, knit fibre cloth, brassieres and bathrobes. The US customs authority said China exported 330 million USD of these products to the US from January to April this year. Among them brassieres took the largest share of 43.2 percent while knit fibre cloth took the least of 8.4 percent on the US market.

However, China described these figures as "inaccurate data for a short period of time". Lu released data from Chinese customs authority recorded 6.58 billion USD of Sino-US textile trade for the first 5 months of the year, which accounted for 8.5 percent of the total bilateral trade.

    Lu also cited another statistics by the US customs authority which showed US imported 7.5 billion USD worth of Chinese textiles for the first 4 months, 12.6 percent of US total textile imports from the international market.

    Having announced delay on decision on woolen trousers and synthetic fibre cloth, the US government will decide on whether to impose restrictions on the other 4 in August. It also has begun to handle petitions from US manufacturers for restrictions on China-made curtain and will decide whether to accept same applications for five other imports from China: women''s woven shirts, skirts, pyjamas, swimming suits, and socks on July 29 and August 1.

    Lu Jianhua reminded Chinese textile producers of paying attention and following alert  signals sentby the government on export suspensions to some countries. He also advised Chinese textile producers to improve their competitiveness by offering high-value-added lines and called for joint efforts by the government and the industry regarding trade disputes.

(2005-7-29)

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