Trade Coalition Filed Safeguard Petition

A coalition of trade groups has filed the first of 10 threat-based safeguard petitions with the Bush Administration on October 8th in an attempt to limit the expected impact of Chinese goods entering the United States next year.

The trade coalition consists of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, The National Council of Trade Organizations, the National Textile Association, The National Association for the Sewn Products Industry, The National Cotton Council, the American Fiber Manufacturers Association and the labor union.

The coalition filed 10 threat-based safeguard petitions cover 15 of the 91 product categories on which U.S. quotas will expire on January 1, 2005. Most of those are apparel related, but several include cotton sheets, synthetic filament fabric and cotton yarns. The group also expected to file three additional petitions shortly including one for knit fabrics. Still more may be in the offing.

The petitions are being filed with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), a five-member U.S. government interagency group, including the U.S. Department of Commerce. At least three of the five member agencies must vote to approve the safeguards for any to take effect. The committee has 15 days to accept or reject the petitions.

If approved, the final decisions by CITA could come in mid to late January; two to four weeks after quotas are removed.

And, if they receive a favorable ruling, it could bring China back to the negotiating table. If not, the United States could limit Chinese exports in the safeguard categories to a 7.5 percent growth ceiling. In the safeguards enacted last year, China declined to return to the negotiating table.

On the other hand, the Global Alliance for Fair Textile Trade (GAFTT), a coalition of 96 textile and clothing associations from 54 countries, has urged the U.S. government to approve China textile safeguard petition filings.

The group says the safeguard petitions will prevent China from taking more than $37 billion in textile and apparel exports in these items which are currently being supplied by dozens of other countries.

Ten threat-based safeguard petitions

Category

Product Description

347/348

Men's and boys' and women's and girls' cotton trousers

647/648

Men's and boys' and women's and girls' man-made fibre trousers

447

Wool trousers

338/339

Men's and boys' and women's and girls' cotton knit shirts

638/639

Men's and boys' and women's and girls' man-made fibre knit shirts

340/640

Non-knit cotton and man-made fibre shirts

352/652

Cotton and man-made fibre underwear

361

Cotton sheets

620

Synthetic filament fabric

620

Cotton yarn

  Existing safeguard measures

222

Knit fabric

350/650

Cotton and man-made fibre dressing gowns and robes

349/649

Cotton and man-made fibre brassieres  

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