The industry noted that textiles is uniquely vulnerable to China and Vietnam because the U.S. industry does not have recourse to traditional trade remedies such as dumping and countervailing duty cases under WTO regarding apparel imports from those countries.
The only trade remedy the industry can currently use is a textile safeguard that expires on January 1, 2009. According to global trade statistics covering apparel markets in Japan, Australia, the United States and the EU, China has gained a 70 percent share or higher share of the apparel market in those product areas where safeguards are not in place.
Textiles and apparel are a vital export sector employing tens of millions of workers in dozens of developing and developed countries. The combined U.S. textile sector employs nearly one million workers in the United States.
The U.S. industry groups noted that the U.S. change in position makes it less likely that a final WTO agreement will be a vehicle for handing those jobs to China. The U.S. shift came in response to new details that Turkey tabled on its proposal for a textile sectoral.
The U.S. industry called on the U.S. government to build on its WTO statement by working with Turkey, NAFTA, CAFTA and ANDEAN governments and trade preference partners in Africa and the Middle East to develop a proposal that ensures that already developed export markets are allowed to prosper and grow under a final WTO agreement.
The industry also thanked its congressional supporters that released a letter yesterday stating they would actively oppose Administration trade legislation if textile concerns were not taken into account in WTO negotiations over the Doha Round and Vietnam's WTO accession.
The U.S. textile sector is the third largest exporter of textile products in the world with over $16 billion in exports last year.
American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition
marketing@alchempro.com
