China, US fail to break impasse in textile talks
By Dai Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-14 05:51

Analysts believe that there would be no agreement soon and both Chinese manufacturers and US retailers and consumers would bear the brunt of the failure.

The Bush administration is expected to impose restrictions on a wider range of Chinese textile imports.

Before the latest round of talks, the US Government announced that restrictions on Chinese curtains and drapery would be imposed from today if a comprehensive agreement were not reached.

Immediately after the talks broke down, the US organization of textile manufacturers said it would file petitions for fresh protection and seek to ensure that existing safeguards were rolled over seamlessly when they lapsed at the end of the year.

The value of Chinese exports to the US was down by at least US$2-3 billion since January, estimated Sun Huaibin, spokesman for the China National Textile and Apparel Council. "Since 27 categories of textiles are under restriction investigation compared to nine for which quotas have been set, the loss will be bigger," Sun said.

Xu Bing, a spokesman for the soon-to-be-held Chinese Export Commodities Fair, said textile orders at the country's largest foreign trade fair may be affected.

But the US is not the winner though its domestic textile producers will gain some protection in the short term, said Mei Xinyun, a trade expert at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Co-operation.

American cotton farmers, retailers and consumers benefit from low-cost Chinese imports; and they lose out if no deal is struck, Mei said.

Brian Cousins, president of Cloudveil Mountain Works Inc, a Wyoming-based outdoor apparel company, was quoted by the New York Times as saying: "We're looking right now at other alternatives, but there are just so few places outside of China to get these products made."

(China Daily 10/14/2005 page1)