Textile Industry Seeks Trade Limits on Chinese

Over the past two years, 270,000 American textile and apparel workers have lost their jobs. The industry is blaming China, accusing the country of unfair trade policies and demanding that the Bush administration take action to protect American manufacturers from being entirely destroyed. According to the agreement made when China entered the WTO, the United States can put quotas on certain Chinese imports if there is evidence that the US market is seriously disrupted. Textile industry officials claim China is keeping its currency weak against the dollar and then dropping prices even more, allowing it to dump cheap goods on the market and overwhelm American competition. In the past, the Bush administration has appeared reluctant to antagonize China, since the country has emerged as an important trading partner and a strategic ally in the current dispute with North Korea. This reluctance may be reinforced by doubts that China is even the primary cause of industry problems. Indeed, some experts maintain that job losses are also resulting from increasing efficiencies and that the industry remains competitive. – YaleGlobal

Textile Industry Seeks Trade Limits on Chinese

David Barboza
Friday, July 25, 2003

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