China, US to Continue Textile Talks (Shenzhen Daily/Agencies) Updated: 2005-10-10 14:39 U.S. and Chinese trade
negotiators would continue talks on an agreement to limit China's textile
imports to the U.S. in Beijing on Oct. 12-13, the U.S. trade representative's
office said.
David Spooner, the U.S. trade representative's special textiles negotiator,
will lead the U.S. delegation including representatives from the departments of
Commerce, State, Treasury, Labor, and Customs and Border Patrol. The upcoming
meeting is the fourth negotiating session, and follows a meeting two weeks ago
in Washington where officials said they had made progress toward a deal.
China's exports of apparel and textiles have allegedly surged this year since
the dismantling of a global system of international textile quotas Jan. 1. Under
the agreement to allow China to join the World Trade Organization, the United
States negotiated the right to impose tariffs on Chinese textiles through 2008
if the domestic market is disrupted by a surge of imports.
The United States has imposed safeguard tariffs on some types of men's shirts
and trousers, women's blouses, and cotton yarn, and is considering several other
categories of goods.
Under the textile safeguard process, the United States must hold official
consultations with China after tariffs are imposed.
The Chinese Government said it strongly opposed a U.S. decision to study
requests from a coalition of textile industry associations and workers seeking
limits on 13 categories of Chinese textile exports.
The U.S. Commerce Department's Committee for the Implementation of Textile
Agreements would consider requests to reapply caps on nine categories of imports
including cotton knit shirts and to impose new limits on four categories
including men's and boys' wool suits, the committee said.
"The U.S. action clearly violates World Trade Organization regulations,"
China's commerce ministry said on its Web site. “We strongly oppose the move. We
hope the United States would consider the broader aspects of its trade relations
with China and handle the textile product trade issue with caution."
China and the United States on Sept. 30 failed to agree on limiting Chinese
textile exports after three days of talks in Washington because of disputes on
four key issues. The committee said it was extending a decision until Nov. 30
and would continue to hold talks with China.
"China welcomes the extension," the ministry said.
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