US Reps call for separate textile sectoral & conditional entry in WTO for Vietnam
14 Jun '06
3 min read
American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) announces report on forty-four (44) U.S. Representatives wrote U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Susan Schwab and called for (1) separate sectoral negotiations for textiles in the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round talks, and (2) an adequate textile safeguard as a condition for admitting Vietnam into the WTO.
They also conveyed that failure to address those concerns would “substantially impact” their view of trade legislation from this point forward.
The latest Doha Round text calls for unbalanced reductions in U.S. industrial tariffs compared to so-called developing countries like China. The only way to exempt textiles from this proposed commitment is to create a separate negotiating sectoral in the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) portion of the Doha talks.
“A textile sectoral is a 'must-have' for the U.S. textile industry and the U.S. government must demand one now before they lose the opportunity. A sectoral is the only realistic way to save the tariffs and safeguards that stand as the last line of defense for the U.S. textile industry and its preferential trade partners in Latin America and Africa against unfair trade practices from non-market economies like China and Vietnam,” said AMTAC, NCTO and NTA.
The letter also addresses how Vietnam uses China's formula of predatory non-market economics, subsidies, and pennies-per-hour labor to steal business away from U.S. companies playing by the rules. These unfair policies have allowed Vietnam to seize an additional $3 billion in U.S. textile and apparel import market share since 2001.
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