AMTAC, NCTO, and NTA stated, “The failure to include an adequate textile safeguard in the recently signed WTO accession agreement between the United States and Vietnam is unacceptable. The U.S. government can and must exercise its power to rectify this job-destroying flaw prior to the finalization of Vietnam's accession.”
Finally, solving the two problems outlined in the Textile Caucus letter are critical because the U.S. textile industry effectively lacks legal standing to use anti-dumping and countervailing duty defenses against dumped and illegally subsidized imports.
For a variety of reasons, producers in the textile supply chain, the bulk of the U.S. textile industry, are precluded from filing anti-dumping suits for all practical purposes. Moreover, the ability to seek penalty tariffs is also unavailable to the industry because the U.S. Commerce Department has determined that it will not apply countervailing duty law to non-market economies like China and Vietnam.
Recognizing this unique handicap, AMTAC, NCTO and NTA concluded, “It is imperative that effective trade remedies be included in both Vietnam's WTO accession agreement and as part of any ultimate Doha Round package. Absent such action, expect China and Vietnam to keep cheating until they eliminate all other significant U.S. and foreign competition in the U.S. market.”
Since January 2001, employment in the U.S. textile and apparel manufacturing has fallen from 1,047,200 to 617,700. The loss of 429,500 jobs represents a 41 percent decline.
American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition
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