WASHINGTON - The US government has taken a step closer to curbing Chinese textile imports by agreeing to consider an industry plea for the introduction of trade safeguards, officials said Wednesday.
A government committee on Wednesday agreed to consider the request "for safeguard action limiting imports of seven categories of textile and apparel products from China", according to an official statement.
"The committee will now solicit public comments on the requests, in particular with regard to whether the US market for those products is disrupted, and, if so, the role of Chinese-origin products in that disruption."
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, an inter-agency group chaired by the US Department of Commerce, announced on April 4 that it was reviewing a recent surge in Chinese garment imports.
To the anger of US textiles companies and unions, the Chinese imports have stepped up sharply since global quotas on textiles trade were abolished on January 1.
China has reacted furiously to the moves in the United States as well as in Europe to re-impose restrictions on its exports.
04/28/2005 15:38 GMT