China and United States had talks on Friday on textile trade
issues, a sign that the two countries are moving towards solving
the sticky problem between them.
"Positive and sincere" talks took place between top Chinese and
US trade officials in a bid to resolve their textile trade
disputes.
According to a statement issued to China Daily by the
Chinese Ministry of
Commerce, the Beijing meeting was attended by Chinese
Vice-Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and Grant Aldonas, the US
under-secretary of commerce for international trade.
The statement said both sides have agreed to each appoint a
liaison officer specially for the textile issue, to ensure an open
communication channel and the smooth flow of information.
Textile trade quotas were removed among World Trade Organization
(WTO) members on January 1. This is a move that will benefit both
China and the United States, said the statement.
"Both sides promise to carry out dialogue and co-operation at
government and industry levels, to enhance mutual understanding and
trust," the statement said.
But the statement failed to say whether the two senior officials
touched on the issue of safeguards at the meeting.
The Bush administration has been under growing pressure to
consider imposing safeguard measures against Chinese textiles like
shirts, trousers, sheets and some underwear, while the Chinese
Government insists these moves are against WTO rules.
The ball is now in the US Government's court after the Court of
International Trade in New York issued a preliminary injunction
recently which blocks the administration from considering
petitions, filed by US textile retailers.
The statement, however, has already delivered a positive signal
in terms of addressing the textile trade problem rather than
escalating frictions, said analysts.
"I believe the issue will progress to a positive conclusion if
both sides are willing to sit down and solve the problem through
more communications and negotiations," said Cao Xinyu, deputy
director of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export
of Textiles.
"We welcome such a positive move," he told China
Daily.
He believes the situation will improve if both sides commit
themselves to the stable development of the textile trade and focus
on long-term benefits.
"Even the US domestic manufacturers are at odds on how to treat
Chinese textile imports," he said, adding cooperation is a better
way and the chamber will make more suggestions about this.
Many textile manufacturers are worried that lifting of textile
quotas will mean that Chinese textiles will swamp their markets,
though these fears have yet to be confirmed by facts.
In an attempt to appease these manufacturers, Beijing announced
last month that it will collect export tariffs on 148 types of
clothing, ranging from 0.2 yuan to 0.3 yuan (2.4-3.6 US cents) for
every piece or set.
Major Chinese textile companies, who support the tax, said they
would rather enter the global textile market gradually.
Some of them have set up several price coordinating panels to
monitor export orders.
These panels were set up in categories in which the US
Government has already imposed safeguards or is considering to do
so, said Cao.
(China Daily January 15, 2005)