ITKIB Association USA, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), and the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) allowed the Republic of Turkey's formal proposal for a separate sectoral negotiation for textile and clothing products within the WTO's Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) talks.
The proposal was made today at a special WTO NAMA meeting in Geneva called by Turkey. A sectoral would allow WTO members to negotiate different treatment for textiles and clothing as compared to other products that would be covered by a general formula of tariff reductions.
The trade associations noted and applauded the strong statement made in Geneva today by the U.S. government indicating that the paper was an excellent starting point and an agreeable format for discussion on the issue of textiles and apparel in the ongoing WTO negotiations.
"Treating the textile and clothing sector separate from other products is only common sense. No other industrial sector is as unique and sensitive to the global economy. Unlike the automotive, computer, or other high-tech sectors, the textile and clothing industry is the only manufacturing sector that is nearly universal regardless of a country's position on the global economic development scale."
Cass Johnson, President of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), commented, "Turkey's proposal is an acknowledgement that if textiles are not addressed in a sectoral manner, substantial export markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, and least-developed Asian countries will be destroyed. Such an evisceration would destabilize large portions of global trade in textiles and clothing."
marketing@alchempro.com
