A team of European Union (EU) trade officials will fly to China
on Wednesday to try to resolve the crisis over blocked imports of
Chinese textiles, European Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy
said at a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
After the EU ordered import restrictions on 10 categories of
Chinese textile goods in June, container loads of sweaters,
trousers and women's shirts sit piled up at European ports. They
can't get through customs because quotas have been exceeded.
The spokeswoman also said that EU executives would meet with
representatives from all 25 EU member states on August 25 in
Brussels to address this urgent issue.
Among concerns that the import quotas are doing more harm than
good, the EU is facing growing calls for their relaxation, even
from France, one of the strongest supporters of the quotas
imposition.
Retailers and importers, who rely on cheap shipments from China,
are warning that unless the quotas are loosened, consumers could
end up paying more for clothes hastily sourced from elsewhere and
have less to choose from.
Earlier this week, trade ministers from Germany and Sweden wrote
to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, asking for a quick
solution to the problem.
On Thursday, trade ministers from the Netherlands, Denmark,
Sweden and Finland jointly published an article in the British
newspaper The Financial Times, calling for an immediate end
to the dispute, saying the "best solution" was to "renounce
protective trade measures."
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2005)