US Reps to tell Prez Bush to oppose EU's LDC initiatives
08 Dec '05
2 min read
US Representatives Howard Coble of North Carolina and John Spratt of South Carolina, Co-Chairs of the House Textile Caucus, will be participating in a press conference to announce that members of Congress will be sending President Bush a letter calling for the United States to oppose an EU-led initiative to give duty-free, quota-free access to Least Developed Countries (LDC's), including Bangladesh, and to endorse a separate textile sectoral in the ongoing WTO Doha Development Round negotiations.
African, Central American, Andean, Mexican, and US textile trade groups are opposing the EU-led initiative.
A textile sectoral raises the possibility of allowing textile and apparel products to receive different tariff and regulatory treatment compared to other industrial goods within the WTO's Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) talks.
A WTO ministerial meeting for these negotiations will take place in Hong Kong, China next week, December 13-18.
Other members of Congress have been invited to attend the press conference.
In addition, American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) Executive Director Auggie Tantillo and (NCTO) National Council of Textile Organizations President Cass Johnson will be available at the press conference to answer any questions from the US textile industry's perspective.
Both Tantillo and Johnson will be traveling to Hong Kong for next week's ministerial.
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