WASHINGTON - US textile and apparel makers called Friday for action by Washington to stem the tide of Chinese imports, saying the lifting of quotas earlier this years has worsened the problems of American industries.
US industry groups were joined by union organizations in the call for Washington to implement a so-called safeguard mechanism under World Trade Organization rules to limit growth in Chinese textile and apparel imports.
"The threat has become reality," said Cass Johnson, president of the National Coalition of Textile Organizations (NCTO).
Johnson said China has increased production capacity by 50 percent and "they are going to execute their plan until someone in the US government says no."
"This surge of imports from China is just the tip of the iceberg. If history is any indication, Chinese imports will continue to soar until they gain a virtual monopoly of the US market," said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC).
"If the US government fails to act immediately to implement the WTO safeguard, it will be an act of reckless disregard of the available evidence costing hundreds of thousands of US jobs as a consequence."
Official data released Friday showed China accounted for 35 percent of US textile imports in January and 22 percent of apparel imports.
A coalition of industry and labor groups told a news conference that action was needed to keep China from steamrolling the world textile industry. They said that some particularly sensitive products such as cotton trousers saw import increases of as much as 1,000 percent in January compared with the same period a year ago.
This was the first month for which data were available after a global agreement setting quotas on textiles and clothing expired.
The coalition said textile and apparel job losses have accelerated sharply and at least seven textile plants closed in the United States this year.
"Quotas have expired, imports from China are soaring, and nearly 10,000 apparel and textile workers lost their jobs in the first 60 days of 2005," said Bruce Raynor, president of the labor union UNITE.
"These job losses highlight the immediate need to implement the China safeguard. The US government has the power to act and it must do so immediately."
The move came as the European Union warned ahead of talks with Beijing next week that it could take "appropriate" measures to limit the impact of a surge in Chinese textile imports after export quotas were lifted on January 1.
China, the world's largest exporter of clothing with a 28 percent share of the market, is predicted to be the main winner from the disappearance of the textile quotas because its textile industry can reach economies of scale that allow it to undercut producers with higher costs in Europe and the United States.
The end of the quotas, enshrined in the 1974 Multifibre Arrangement and later in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, was expected to have a major impact not only on wealthier nations that import goods, but on other developing countries that may lose market share to China.
Under China's WTO accession accord, Washington may limit growth in Chinese imports to 7.5 percent through 2008 in cases where the imports cause disruption to American industry.
03/11/2005 19:31 GMT