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US limits sock imports from China
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-23 13:15
The Bush administration decided Friday that it will impose a quota on sock
imports from China - the latest round of an increasingly bitter trade dispute
with Beijing ahead of the November 2 election.
Trade has become a hot issue on the campaign trail with President Bush, an
unrepentant free trader, accusing his Democratic opponent John Kerry of being an
"economic isolationist." Kerry has countered that Bush has not done enough to
protect American workers from unfair foreign competition.
The interagency Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements,
chaired by the Commerce Department, ruled that sock imports from China are
disrupting the U.S. market and there is a risk of further disruption. The
committee will seek talks with China to try to ease or avoid any disruption.
Once consultations are sought, the department said, "a quota will be put in
place to limit U.S. imports of socks from China" to an increase between 6
percent and 7.5 percent over current import levels, a far smaller increase than
has occurred in recent years.
"The United States will make every effort to reach a mutually satisfactory
agreement with the Government of China to ease or avoid the disruption in the
U.S. market within 90 days of such a request," the department said.
If talks fail, the quota will remain in effect for a year, the department
said.
Besides socks, U.S. textile and clothing manufacturers asked the
administration October 12 to protect them against a surge of Chinese imports
next year when worldwide quotas are removed under World Trade Organization
rules. The petitions covers cotton and synthetic trousers, wool trousers, cotton
and synthetic knit shirts and underwear.
The administration will have to make an initial ruling on the technical
merits of the cotton trousers petition Nov. 1, one day before Election Day.
U.S. manufacturers have been concerned they could be ruined by a flood of
low-cost socks from China as import quotas expire at the end of the year. So
they led an industry call last summer for the administration to help.
Some retailers, large manufacturers and importing companies blasted the sock
decision, which followed a move earlier this year to limit the import of
nightgowns and brassieres from China.
Laura E. Jones, executive director of the U.S. Association of Importers of
Textiles and Apparel, said the decision is "totally political and has nothing to
do with reality."
"Today's decision only perpetuates the failed protectionist policies that
have discouraged the U.S. textile industry from becoming competitive, innovative
and responsive to their customers, which in turn has exacerbated job losses in
the industry," she said.
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