美国纺织品生产商寻找同盟军

American Textile Makers Mobilize Alliance of Rivals To Counter

As Beijing moves to defuse global tensions over textile exports, American textile makers are mobilizing an unusual international alliance of onetime rivals to counter China's rising market share.

Since March, U.S. and Turkish textile makers have joined hands to curb the growth of Chinese goods in their countries and elsewhere, and have since signed up supporters in dozens of countries, including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The members have been pushing the World Trade Organization to limit Chinese exports, and plan to gather in Washington next month to put similar pressure on the Bush administration. (See related article.)

A STITCH IN TIME


? Take an interactive look at what the expiry of textile quotas means for China and the U.S.

? China Sets Export Duties on Textiles, Easing Tensions




Such alliance-building marks a reversal for the normally insular American textile industry, which has picked more than its share of fights with other countries over the years as it has felt the effects of import competition. In the run up to the Iraq war, for example, industry officials objected when the Bush administration dangled a package of textile preferences in front of Turkey. And they cried foul when the Clinton administration moved to grant the country special flexibility to export apparel to the U.S., a concession offered after an earthquake in Turkey killed 20,000.

But now the U.S. textile industry has found common cause with erstwhile opponents through the elimination of world-wide textile quotas beginning Jan. 1, a move widely seen as giving Chinese makers a big new advantage over makers in the U.S., as well as developing countries.

"If they won't necessarily listen to the concerns of domestic producers, maybe they'll listen to the concerns of the Third World," said Augustine Tantillo, a top textile lobbyist in Washington and a leader of the effort.

Despite China's move over the weekend to assuage worries, critics still fear China is poised to dominate the market, taking advantage of rule changes planned well before it was envisioned China would enter the WTO. The WTO estimates China's share of the world market for textiles and apparel will leap to more than 50% in 2007, from 17% in 2003.

American textile concerns long have opposed lifting U.S. quotas, and for much of the past decade have resisted, in most cases unsuccessfully, almost any proposal to expose U.S. companies to foreign competition. But a little more than two years ago, American textile officials made a savvy decision about how to build opposition to the quota changes: They began looking abroad for help.

In early 2003, Mr. Tantillo flew to a trade conference in Mauritius to drum up concern among African nations about the threat of competition from China. Mr. Tantillo is executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, or AMTAC, but was acting on behalf of a broader group of U.S. textile advocacy groups, including the National Council of Textile Organizations and National Textile Association.

Mr. Tantillo, supported by other industry officials, spent much of 2003 traveling and preaching about the need to take action against China, while looking for potential allies. The effort culminated in March with the issuance of the Istanbul Declaration, a call by American and Turkish textile makers to postpone the lifting of the quotas.

"We recognized we did have a common interest," Mr. Tantillo said. "Although we'd been opposed on a number of things, the threat of China created a common concern."

The coalition convened a "Summit on Fair Trade" in Brussels in June, a gathering attended by textile and clothing makers from 25 countries. They issued a communiqué calling for urgent action by the WTO and warned that 30 million jobs in the developing world were at risk. In July, the government of Mauritius, which already is feeling pressured by the looming quota changes, responded to the textile lobbying by formally requesting the WTO to discuss the issue.

The request rattled supporters of the quota change. Laura Jones, executive director of the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, a trade group representing major U.S. garment importers and retailers, fired off a letter to trade ambassadors in Geneva reminding them not to forget the prickly protectionist past of American textile makers.

"There is no 'crisis' other than the one created by those who did not prepare or who are unwilling to compete without the crutch of protection," she wrote.

For Mr. Tantillo, a former aide to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and a top textile policy maker during the first Bush administration, working with those countries represented a "dramatic turn" of events. For several years, American textile concerns have wrung their hands over the competition posed by Third World countries and lobbied against proposals to open the U.S. market to cheap labor competitors. Now AMTAC keeps a file of textile contacts in places such as Mexico and Bangladesh, eager to steer reporters toward stories in the developing world.

The long-term goal of the coalition is to mount opposition within the WTO, which explains the pointed focus of the American and Turkish-led coalition on stirring debate in Geneva. The hope is to insert the issue into the Doha Round of world trade talks -- a round supposedly devoted to promoting the developing world.
美国纺织品生产商寻找同盟军

在中国政府试图缓和世界对其纺织品出口的紧张情绪时，美国纺织品生产商却正在动员从前的竞争对手结成非同寻常的国际联盟，以应对中国不断上升的纺织品市场占有率。

自3月份以来，美国和土耳其的纺织品生产商就在联手阻止中国商品在其国家及其他地区的增长势头，此后又有斯里兰卡和孟加拉国等十多个国家的厂家加入到他们的行列。这些国家一直在要求世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization, WTO)限制中国的出口，并计划下月在华盛顿开会，对布什(Bush)政府施加同样的压力。

此类联盟的建立标志著通常与世无争的美国纺织业彻底改变了做法，对进口竞争影响的切身感受导致其近年来越来越多地陷入与其他国家的纠纷中。比如，在伊拉克战争前，当布什政府用一系列纺织品优惠措施打动土耳其时，纺织品行业的人士就表示反对。当土耳其发生地震导致2万人死亡后，克林顿(Clinton)政府采取措施，给予该国向美国出口服装的特殊灵活政策，这些人也大声反对。

但现在，随著全球纺织品配额将在2005年1月1日取消，美国纺织业与原先的对手都发现了共同的敌人。人们普遍认为取消纺织品配额将使中国的生产商获得比美国及其他发展中国家生产商更大的优势。

“如果他们不愿倾听国内生产商的担忧，也许他们会听听来自第三世界的担忧。”驻华盛顿的纺织品主要游说者坦蒂洛(Augustine Tantillo)表示，他也是此类活动的领导者。

尽管中国在周末试图缓和外界的担忧，但批评人士仍担心中国将会利用早在预想到中国会加入WTO之前就制定好的规则变动，从而控制世界纺织品市场。WTO预计中国在全球纺织品及服装市场上的占有率将从2003年的17%猛增到2007年的50%以上。

美国的纺织公司长期以来一直反对取消美国的配额，在过去10年中几乎反对任何让美国公司面对外国竞争的提议，但大多数情况下都没能成功。然而，两年多以前，美国的纺织业管理人士在如何加强反对改变配额的力量方面作出了明智的决策：他们开始转向国外寻求帮助。

2003年初，坦蒂洛参加在毛里求斯召开的一个贸易会议时就在非洲国家中宣扬来自中国竞争的威胁。坦蒂洛是美国制造商贸易行动联盟(American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, AMTAC)的执行董事，但也代表众多美国纺织品游说集团的利益，其中包括纺织团体协会(National Council of Textile Organizations)和美国国家纺织协会(National Textile Association)。

坦蒂洛也受到了其他业内人士的支持，他将2003年的大部分时间都用于四处鼓动和呼吁对中国采取行动上面，并寻找潜在的联盟。他的努力在3月份换来了伊斯坦布尔宣言的发表，美国和土耳其的纺织品生产商在宣言中要求推迟取消配额。

坦蒂洛称：“我们认识到双方具有共同利益。尽管我们在众多问题上意见不同，但来自中国的威胁却是普遍感到担忧的问题。”

该联盟于今年6月份在布鲁塞尔召开了一次“公平贸易峰会”(Summit on Fair Trade)，共有来自25个国家的纺织品及服装生产商参加。他们发表了公报，要求WTO采取紧急行动，并警告称，发展中国家可能丧失30万份工作。7月份，毛里求斯政府感受到配额变化的压力，对纺织品的游说作出回应，正式要求世界贸易组织讨论这一问题。

这样的要求令支持取消配额的人感到不安。美国纺织品及服装进口商协会(U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel)的执行董事琼斯(Laura Jones)向驻日内瓦的贸易大使提交了一封信，提醒他们不要忘记过去美国纺织品生产商中激进的保护主义者。该协会代表美国主要服装进口商和零售商。

琼斯在信中写道，最大的危机是那些不做准备，或不愿打破保护，面对竞争的人制造的。

坦蒂洛原是前南卡罗来纳州参议员瑟蒙德(Strom Thurmond)的幕僚，也是布什第一任期内纺织品政策的主要制定者。他同这些国家打交道表明了形势的巨大变化。多年来，美国纺织品企业一直协力应对来自第三世界的竞争，并反对向拥有廉价劳动力的竞争对手开放美国市场的提议。现在AMTAC开始与墨西哥和孟加拉国等国家进行接触，以求在发展中国家找到同盟。

该联盟的长期目标是增加WTO内部的反对力量。他们希望将此问题纳入到多哈回合(Doha Round)世界贸易谈判中。

中国对部分纺织品加征出口税
China Sets Export Duties On Textiles, Easing Tensions

China's surprise decision to impose duties on some textile exports appears targeted more at winning public-relations points with countries fearful of its export prowess than at reining in its surging garment industry.

Sunday night, China's Ministry of Commerce announced it would impose duties on certain textile exports. The measures, which didn't spell out which items would be included or what the rates would be, are part of an eight-point plan to upgrade industry standards and prevent a flood of Chinese textile and clothing exports beginning next month. Countries around the world are bracing for such a flood after a global quota system, in place for three decades, expires Jan. 1.

A STITCH IN TIME


? Take an interactive look at what the expiry of textile quotas means for China and the U.S.

? U.S. Textile Makers Mobilize Alliance of Rivals to Counter China's Share




In 2003, China made 17% of the world's textiles and clothes, but the World Trade Organization sees that share soaring to more than 50% by 2007. China's anticipated emergence as the textile and garment superpower has spooked rival producers in poor developing countries such as Bangladesh, which fear an inevitable erosion of their global market share.

The Chinese announcement on export duties, which caught people in the Chinese textiles and clothing industry off guard, suggests an 11th-hour effort by Beijing to show that it is a good global player. With the international quota system set to expire in less than three weeks, any concessions Beijing might make in trade negotiations wouldn't kick in before Jan. 1.

Details of the Chinese duties haven't been publicly announced. If approved by the country's State Council, the Chinese export duties would take effect Jan. 1, according to Wang Huaxue, director of the regulations and laws department under the Ministry of Finance. The duties are based on the number of items exported rather than on their value, to encourage manufacturers to move toward higher-price products and thus ease trade frictions, officials said.

Industry executives say the commercial impact of the measures is likely to be limited. Executives at several Chinese textile manufacturers say they have heard that duties would be in the range of 50 fen to one yuan (six to 12 U.S. cents) per piece. The duties probably would be imposed on the products that have drawn the most calls for protectionist measures, like trousers and shirts. At that price, the effect on makers of the cheapest products would be painful but bearable, these executives say.

"I don't think [the duties] will be of much use," says Chen Xiaodong, executive deputy manager of Jiangsu Guotai International Group, a Chinese state-owned textile trading company and manufacturer. "This is just a formality."

The Bush administration reacted cautiously to the announcement, issuing a statement that was notably silent on whether China's action would end pressure for stronger measures to guard against a surge of exports. Mary Brown Brewer, a spokeswoman for the Commerce Department, said "China's reported announcement that it will place export tariffs on some of its textile products seems to acknowledge concerns expressed by a number of countries regarding a potential surge in exports from China following the end of global quotas." But she added that "China has yet to provide critical details" of how the tariffs would work. "We will continue to work with China and other nations to facilitate an orderly transition from the textile-quota system, and to promote the competitiveness of U.S. industry and level the playing field for American workers," she said. The European Union last week asked China to restrain its textile exports during a summit meeting in the Netherlands. Claude Veron-Reville , spokeswoman on trade issues at the European Commission, said details of China's plans are still being studied.

"We will analyze the measures to see if they will address adjustment problems, especially for developing countries," she said. "But it's definitely a step in the right direction; we are very happy."

Asian countries have been particularly worried about the impact of China's rise. Cambodia faces a sharp slowdown in economic growth to 2.4% in 2005 from a projected 4.3% this year, mainly because of expected losses in the country's garment sector, the World Bank warned in November.

The move by China underscores the uncertainty that has crept into the global trade in textile products, as the deadline looms for the elimination of the quotas regulating the cross-border flow of clothing and apparel. U.S. makers of yarn and fabric have mounted a furious last-minute lobbying campaign, at home and abroad, aimed at postponing the lifting of the quotas, at a minimum. And there are signs the Bush administration might be prepared to respond favorably to their concerns. (See related article.)

In recent days, the Commerce Department has moved to impose short-term curbs on imports from China after Jan. 1. Exercising little-used authority, the department issued a directive imposing an "embargo" on certain clothing shipped to the U.S. in late 2004. Officials said the action was needed to ensure companies that waited to ship products until after Jan. 1 aren't put at a competitive disadvantage. But the new rules also will serve as a protection against any surge of imports from China early in the new year. The U.S. also is considering petitions from domestic groups for "safeguard quotas" on several categories of Chinese-made clothing.


The Chinese announcement on duties comes after months of refusal by Beijing to make compromises. As late as last week, Chinese government officials were saying Beijing wouldn't bow to outside pressure to self-regulate, as this contravened free-trade principles. Such a move might send signals that China would readily bow to global pressure in other areas, such as revaluing its currency, they feared. But China has come under increasing political pressure as the U.S. textile industry, after decades of feuding with competitors in the developing world, has formed a global alliance with old enemies to fight the perceived Chinese threat.

Officials in the U.S. textile industry greeted the China announcement with skepticism. Augustine Tantillo, executive director of American Manufacture Trade Action Coalition, a textile trade group, said the duties likely won't offset other government preferences, such as export rebates, that give Chinese textile producers significant price advantages in the world market. "It's fairly meaningless," Mr. Tantillo said. "The Chinese realize that they have enormous advantages and flexibility when it comes to price."

In March, U.S. and Turkish textile makers joined together to call for a postponement of the lifting of the quotas. Since then, dozens of textile groups -- from countries ranging from Sri Lanka to South Africa to Bangladesh -- have signed onto the effort, promising to lobby their own governments -- and more importantly, the WTO -- for action against China.

In addition to the export duties, the Chinese government said it would monitor export information and make textile companies report on their expansion plans.

But the Chinese government's ability to impose its will is questionable, industry watchers say. The country has about 30,000 textile and apparel exporters, according to customs figures. While state-owned manufacturers account for about 36% of total textile and garment exports, exports from private manufacturers, joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises are seeing the fastest growth.

Foreign-funded textile and apparel companies account for 35%, or about $21 billion of total garment and textile exports. Many of China's private companies have expanded capacity in anticipation of a huge jump in orders following the scrapping of quotas, and they are under commercial pressure to keep those new machines operating.

"If we hold ourselves back, someone else is going to get our business," says Felder Tam, manager at the family-run jeans-making company New Yu Feng Garment Ltd., which this year built new premises and doubled its 600-strong staff in anticipation of a flood of U.S. orders.

And with the markets opening, companies are in the position to swallow some duties and still stay commercially viable. Until now, most companies had to pay for export quotas, which typically accounted for between 15% and 20% of the factory price of garments.

With this burden now lifted, they have room to pay for the duties and still come out ahead. "If the tax is not too high, we can accept it," said the exports manager of Hongdou Group, a shirt maker based in the eastern city of Wuxi, who only gave his surname, Yang. "We paid a big part of our costs to get export quota."

In the short term, many Chinese companies say they aren't taking orders with long-range delivery dates. Some are also raising prices in order to avoid provoking antidumping investigations, measures that will delay a fall in garment price deflation that analysts had predicted would occur as a result of quotas being lifted.

Jiangsu Guotai, the state-owned manufacturer, has already ceased accepting U.S. and European orders for popular items such as cotton trousers on which so-called safeguard quotas might be imposed. "We don't dare to accept them, because the more we're exporting, the faster we will lead us to death," said Mr. Chen, its executive deputy manager.
中国对部分纺织品加征出口税

中国出人意料地决定对某些纺织品加征出口税，这种做法与其说是为了规范国内迅猛增长的纺织品行业的发展，还不如说是一种公关手段，旨在缓解一些国家对中国纺织品汹涌而入的担心，以博得国际社会的好感。

周日晚间，中国商务部(Ministry of Commerce)宣布将提高部分纺织品的出口关税，但没有具体说明是哪些纺织品。商务部在网站上中刊载了一份包括八项措施的公告，这些举措旨在提高纺织品行业的发展水平，并防范后配额时代中国纺织品及成衣在全球市场上蜂拥而至。明年1月1日起，延续了长达30年之久的配额制度就将告别历史舞台，预计中国出口的纺织品将犹如潮水一般地涌入全球各国市场。

2003年，中国在全球纺织品及服装市场上的占有率仅为17%，但世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization, 简称WTO)预计，到2007年年底中国纺织品的市场占有率将超过50%。

中国将成为纺织品及服装行业的世界工厂，这已在众人的意料之中，但这种迅猛发展的势头令孟加拉等一些发展中国家的制造商惶恐不安，他们担心中国纺织业在全球市场上攻城掠地，将不可避免地侵蚀他们的市场占有率。

即使是中国纺织品及服装业的部分业内人士也对政府的上述举动感到意外，这也表明中国政府是在最后时刻才做出这项决策，并以此表明中国是一个负责任的全球贸易大国。还有不到3周的时间，全球贸易配额体制就将宣告结束。因此，中国在贸易谈判中可能作出的任何让步也不会在1月1日前开始实施。

中国政府尚未公布加征纺织品出口税的具体细节。财政部政策法规处处长王化雪表示，如果得到国务院(State Council)批准，加征纺织品出口税的决定将从明年1月1日起生效。据多位官员介绍，出口税是根据出口数量而不是金额来决定的，这将鼓励制造商转向高附加值产品的生产，并有助于减少和其他国家的贸易摩擦。

行业管理人士表示，这些措施的商业影响会较为有限。几家纺织品制造企业的管理人士表示，他们听说每件商品加征的出口税在人民币0.5元-1元（合6-12美分）之间，征收对象可能局限于裤子、衬衫等引起最多贸易保护呼声的纺织品。这些管理人士认为，这的确会损害那些廉价纺织品制造商的利益，不过还在他们承受的范围之内。

国有纺织品生产兼贸易公司、江苏国泰国际集团有限公司(Jiangsu Guotai International Group)的副总经理陈晓东认为，（加征出口税）不会产生什么实质性的影响，只不过是走走形式而已。

欧盟(European Union)上周在中欧领导人峰会期间要求中国限制自己的纺织品出口。欧盟负责贸易问题的发言人克劳德?韦龙-雷维尔(Claude Veron-Reville)表示，欧盟正在研究中国上述决定的细节。

她表示，“我们正在评估中国政府的上述举措，判断这些措施能否解决问题，特别是能否消除发展中国家的后顾之忧。但这绝对是朝著正确方向迈出的一步，我们对此深感欣慰。“

亚洲国家对中国的崛起尤其感到忧心忡忡。世界银行(World Bank)在11月份的报告中预计说，柬埔寨2005年的经济增长率将从今年预计的4.3%迅速滑落到2.4%，主要就是因为预计柬埔寨服装业出现滑坡。

中国政府的上述举动凸现出：规范全球纺织品跨国贸易数十年的配额体制临近终结，全球纺织品贸易也逐渐呈现出更加动荡的局面。美国纺织品制造商在国内外不遗余力地发起最后关头声势浩大的游说活动，希望至少要推迟废除配额体制的日期。有迹象表示，布什(George W. Bush)政府可能会此做出积极回应。

这几天，美国商务部(Commerce Department)决定从明年1月1日起采取短期措施，对进口自中国的某些商品加以限制。商务部还发出一项指令，限制中国出口至美国的某些服装产品。新规定在防范明年年初中国纺织品进口激增方面可能会起到保护作用。美国还在受理国内某些团体要求对中国生产的几种纺织品实施保护性配额制度的诉求。

在决定对某些纺织品加征出口税之前的几个月里，中国政府始终拒绝做出让步。直到上周中国政府官员还表示，中国不会屈服于外界的压力、作出有违自由贸易原则的决策。他们担心一旦做出如此将向外界发出这样一个信号──中国可能在调整人民币汇率等方面也会向国际压力屈服。

但中国正面临著越来越大的政治压力，原因是美国的纺织业和争斗了持续数十年之久的发展中国家纺织业如今捐弃前嫌、携起手来共同对抗来自中国的威胁。

今年3月，美国和土耳其的纺织品制造商共同呼吁推迟废除配额体制。此后，斯里兰卡、南非、孟加拉等国的数十个纺织业团体一致同意游说各自的政府以及WTO限制中国的纺织品出口。

除了加征出口税之外，中国政府还表示将密切关注出口信息，并要求纺织品企业披露他们的扩张计划。

但行业观察家表示，在市场经济的改革大潮中，政府意愿能否得到企业界的积极回应值得怀疑。海关数据显示，中国共有约3万家纺织品及服装出口商。虽然国有企业的出口额占纺织品及服装出口总额的36%，但民营企业、合资企业及纯外资企业的出口增长却最为迅速。外资企业出口额达到210亿美元，占行业出口总额的35%。许多民营企业都认为配额制度终结后他们的订单将大幅增加，因此纷纷添置设备，目前正面临著寻找订单的压力。

家族式牛仔装企业New Yu Feng Garment Ltd.的经理费尔德?塔姆(Felder Tam)表示，“如果我们不主动出击，别人就会抢走我们的生意。“该公司今年新建了厂房，并新招了600名壮劳力，以便迎接美国订单大量涌来的局面。

取消配额也让纺织企业可以在承受一定程度关税的前提下继续生存下去。目前为止，绝大多数中国纺织企业承担的配额成本往往相当于服装出厂价的15%-20%。

配额体制的终结意味著企业不再用承受这个负担了，因此就有了支付关税及在今后生存发展的空间。红豆集团(Hongdou Group)一位姓杨的出口业务主管表示，“只要关税不是定得过高，我们就可以接受。获得出口配额给我们增添了不小的成本负担，但我们也承受下来了。“

许多中国企业称短期之内他们不准备接受长期订单。一些企业为了避免引起反倾销调查还上调了产品价格。这些举动将减缓纺织品价格的下滑趋势。一些分析师们原先认为，配额体制终结后，全球的纺织品价格将普遍下跌。

江苏国泰国际集团已经停止从欧美企业接受棉质长裤等纺热销织品的订单，因为它们都有可能受到类似配额制度的限制。陈晓东表示，“我们不敢接受这几类纺织品的订单，因为这些商品我们出口得越多，也就越容易惹祸上身。“

中国加征出口税令国内小型服装企业受创
Tight Times in the Rag Trade

While China's large-scale textile and garment manufacturers say they aren't worried about recently imposed duties to rein in exports, the country's legion of small manufacturers are dismayed and rethinking their original plans to flood the global market with low-priced goods.

The Yudim Jeans factory, in this southern city in China's Pearl River Delta manufacturing region and a center of China's denim production, has been churning out nearly 500,000 pairs of the utilitarian wear each month. Manager Liang Cun Wang recently projected a 75% increase in output for next year as the factory increased export sales. "We're going to need at least 700 to 800 more workers," said Mr. Liang last week as he strode through mountains of blue denim.

A STITCH IN TIME


? Take an interactive look at what the expiry of textile quotas means for China and the U.S.

? China Textile Trade Won't Wane

? American Textile Makers Mobilize Alliance of Rivals to Counter China's Share
12/14/04




Those rosy projections are now in doubt. Beijing said over the weekend that it would impose duties on some textile products, its first concrete effort to placate global fears that cheap made-in-China clothes would flood world markets with the elimination of global apparel quotas beginning Jan. 1.

Most larger players say they aren't worried about the pending import duties, which they feel will be more affordable than the prices they currently must pay to gain export quotas. But for the smaller companies, many of whom fly under the radar of global buyers and investors, the measures come just as they were gearing up to take a crack at largely unexplored export markets for the first time. The rethink suggests that the duties, at the lowest tier of manufacturing at least, could have some of the commercial impact that Beijing intended.

"A lot of the smaller shirt and trouser makers will go bust in the first two or three months next year," predicts Chen Xiaodong, executive deputy manager of Jiangsu Guotai International Group, a larger manufacturer and exporter of clothing. He said small plants specializing in producing shirts and trousers would suffer the most from the duties, as their profit margins would disappear and the surprise imposition of the duties has left them little time to adjust their production lines.

About 30,000 of China's garment and textile factories export abroad. The rest -- an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 -- had largely confined themselves to selling in the domestic market because of the prohibitive cost of purchasing export quotas. It is these factories, operating on razor-thin profit margins of between 3% and 5%, that had been expected to take the lead in pushing global garment prices downward when they start exporting overseas next year. Some 30,000 manufacturers had already signed up to participate in an eBbay-type online Web site, called CNTextile, established by a domestic trade group to enable them to sell directly to American buyers.

"There's a huge pool of China's suppliers that hasn't been tapped yet," says Warren Hartenstine , one of the Web site's directors.

Although the central government hasn't yet released details of the import duties, such factories are worried that the duties will crimp their expansion plans. Wang Guozhen, owner of Ningbo-based Jinzhao Garment, exports $6 million worth of pajamas to countries that currently aren't under export quotas and had hoped to increase that figure in the coming year. But with the planned duties, she says she is only pursuing large-value export orders while refraining from accepting smaller orders until policies become clearer.

"The duties will have a huge impact," says Ms. Wang, noting that her company's net profit margins are only 3% and the company also has been facing rising costs for labor, packaging and printing over the past two years. She predicts that half of the smallest-scale apparel exporters, typically those with about 50 sewing machines and exports of roughly $1 million a year, will go under.

While small manufacturers are suffering, some are planning to move to the higher-value goods, but it is unclear whether they will be able to do so. Wang Chengwu, financial director of Zhejiang Yiwu Bendu Apparel Co., Ltd., which exports six billion shirts and 500,000 pairs of trousers each year, said the company will suffer from the pending duties. He said Bendu is trying to move to the high-end market by rolling out more expensive products. But the company is having trouble finding skilled technicians, he said, a major problem for companies in China seeking to upgrade.
中国加征出口税令国内小型服装企业受创

日前，中国政府决定对某些纺织品加征出口税。虽然中国的大型纺织品及服装生产商表示他们不会受到什么影响，但为数众多的小型生产商对此灰心丧气，并且开始考虑调整他们最初为进军全球市场而制定的雄心勃勃的生产计划。

以每个月生产近50万套牛仔服的富琳纺织制衣有限公司(Yudim Jeans)为例，经理梁存旺近期预测随著出口的增加，公司明年的产量将增加75%。梁存旺上周还表示，希望招收至少700-800名新员工。富琳纺织位于珠江三角洲的开平市──中国粗斜棉布的制造中心。

现在看来，这些乐观的预期能否实现颇有悬念。中国政府周末宣布将对部分纺织品加征出口税。随著配额体制将于明年1月1日起退出历史舞台，国际社会普遍担心中国生产的服装将大量涌入国际市场。这是中国政府为了缓解这种担心第一次推出了具体的措施。

大部分大型企业表示他们对加征出口税并不担心，因为和获得出口配额所支付的成本相比，这点关税还不算什么。但对于往往无法获得全球采购商和投资者眷顾的中小型企业来说，他们此时正在纷纷扩大产能，以便在后配额时代首次进军那些基本上从未涉足过的出口市场。从他们现在调整生产计划的举动来看，加征出口税可能至少会对一些低端企业产生一定影响，而这正是中国政府所乐于见到的。

大型服装生产商兼出口企业江苏国泰国际集团有限公司(Jiangsu Guotai International Group)的副总经理陈晓东认为，在明年的前2、3个月会有许多中小企业走向破产。他表示，那些专门生产衬衫和裤子的小工厂会受到最沉重的打击，因为政府加征出口税的决定出乎许多人的意料，没有给它们留下调整生产计划的充裕时间，它们的利润率空间也将大幅收缩。

中国共有约3万家纺织品及服装出口商。此外还有3.5万-4万家企业由于承担不起购买出口配额的费用而基本上面向国内市场销售。这些企业的利润率往往只有3%-5%，但人们普遍认为，由于从明年起可以向海外市场销售产品，他们将成为推低全球服装价格的生力军。约有3万家企业已经签署了协议，成为中国纺织经济信息网(CNTextile)的会员企业。中国纺织经济信息网是由一家国内贸易团体设计推出的，旨在促使国内纺织品企业和美国采购商建立直接业务往来。

网站负责人之一的沃伦?哈尔滕斯汀(Warren Hartenstine)表示，中国还有很多的供应商尚未成为这个网站的会员。

尽管中国政府尚未发布加征出口税的具体细节，但一些工厂已经开始担心出口税会影响他们的扩张计划。例如，宁波今朝服饰(Jinzhao Garment)目前向不采用出口配额的国家出口价值600万美元的宽松式睡衣，公司原计划明年出口额增加一倍。但由于政府准备加征出口税，公司老板王国珍(音译)现在表示，只会接受大宗出口订单，并在政策形势进一步明朗之前暂停接受小规模的订单。

她表示，“出口税将对我的企业将产生很大影响。“她指出，她的企业利润率现在只有3%，而且还要面对过去2年间劳动力、包装及印刷成本的不断上涨。她预测说，那些缝纫机在50台左右、年出口额约为100万美元的最低端的服装出口商将难逃破产的厄运。

虽然一些小型企业怨声载道，但也有一些企业在主动谋求生路，他们的对策是转向高附加值产品的生产，但能否成功还不得而知。例如，浙江义乌奔度服饰有限公司(Zhejiang Yiwu Bendu Apparel Co., Ltd.)财务部负责人王成武表示，该公司确实会受到政府加征出口税的冲击。他表示，公司准备推出价格更高的产品，以此来转战高端市场；但问题在于难以招募到技艺娴熟的工人，这也是中国纺织品企业在产业升级时所遇到的一个普遍问题。

中国加征纺织品出口税 美国怀疑其效果

US textile manufacturers sceptical over China’s proposed export curbs

US manufacturers responded sceptically yesterday to to China's surprise undertaking to impose duties on some textile exports, a step it said was designed to ensure a “smooth transition” once global quotas on garment sales are lifted at the end of the year.


China's announcement follows direct appeals from the US and EU to senior Chinese leaders over the past month for Beijing to moderate its exports once the 40-year-old quotas are lifted.


The commerce ministry said China would also introduce policies to encourage its industry to concentrate on “high-value added products”.

But US producers, who fear their domestic market will be swamped by cheaper Chinese garments, said the export tariff would have little effect.


Auggie Tantillo of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which has filed more than a dozen “safeguard” actions to restrict Chinese textile exports to the US, said Chinese companies would be able to undercut US prices in spite of Beijing's self-imposed levy. He said the US industry would push for new quotas.


Erik Autor, vice-president of the National Retail Federation, which represents US clothing sellers, said China's action was a voluntary export restraint of the sort Japan agreed to in the 1980s under pressure from Europe and the US. Such measures were later declared illegal under the World Trade Organisation.


Peter Mandelson, the EU's trade commissioner, said the EU would be cautious about imposing restrictions to stem the flow of textile products after the removal of quotas on December 31. “Such measures should be operated only if strictly necessary after monitoring the effects of quota removal, primarily on vulnerable developing countries.” China's commerce ministry gave no details about which products would be included under the levy, nor the amount of the proposed duties nor the level at which they would apply.

“This is part of a string of measures China will take to ensure a smooth transition for textile integration following the end of the quota system,” a spokesman, was quoted as saying on the ministry website. “The Chinese government opposes trade protectionism . . . but will work hard to increase communication and co-operation with each country for the healthy development of international trade.”


The US and the EU expect Chinese clothing and textile exports to grow rapidly with the end of quotas. China accounted for 17 per cent of the world's textile and clothing trade in 2003, but the WTO says its market share will exceed 50 per cent in three years.


The EU's imports of Chinese textiles and clothing nearly doubled between 2001 and 2003, partly due to the early removal of quotas on specific clothing items.


The agreement to lift quotas contains a rider allowing governments to reimpose some “safeguard” restrictions on imports should trade volumes surge.
中国加征纺织品出口税 美国怀疑其效果

中国昨天意外承诺，将对一些出口纺织品征收关税，表示这一措施旨在确保今年年底取消服装销售的全球配额后，能有一个“平稳过渡”。美国生产商们对此表示怀疑。


中国作出上述内容之前，美国和欧盟已于上月向中国高层领导人发出直接呼吁，一旦有40年历史的配额被废除，中国应将其出口保持在适度水平。

中国商务部表示，中国还将出台政策，鼓励企业集中生产“高附加值产品”。

但美国生产商担心，它们的国内市场将充斥更便宜的中国服装，它们表示出口关税几乎不会有什么效果。

美国制造业贸易行动联合会(American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition)的奥基?坦蒂洛(Auggie Tantillo)表示，尽管中国政府自行征收关税，但中国企业将有能力削弱美国的价格。该联合会已提交了10多起要求限制中国纺织品出口的“保护性”措施。他表示，美国企业将努力争取实施新配额制度。

全美零售商联合会(National Retail Federation)副主席艾里克?奥特(Erik Autor)表示，中国的这一行动是自愿采取的出口限制措施，类似于日本上世纪80年代屈服于欧洲和美国的压力而同意采取的做法。此类措施后来被世界贸易组织宣布为非法。全美零售商联合会(National Retail Federation)代表美国服装零售商的利益。

欧盟贸易专员彼得?曼德尔森(Peter Mandelson)表示，12月31日纺织品配额取消后，欧盟将在施加限制措施阻止纺织品流入的问题上谨慎从事。“只有对配额取消后产生的影响，主要是对脆弱的发展中国家产生的影响进行监视，认为确实有必要采取措施的情况下，才应采用此类措施。”对于哪些产品将被纳入征税范围，中国商务部没有给出任何细节，也没有提供拟议征税的金额或起征点。

“美国和欧盟预计，纺织品配额一取消，中国的成衣和纺织品出口将会快速增长。中国占2003年全球纺织品和成衣贸易的17%，但世界贸易组织表示，中国的市场份额将在3年后超过50%。”

马利德(Richard McGregor)上海、爱德华?奥尔登(Edward Alden)华盛顿、拉斐尔?曼代(Raphael Minder)布鲁塞尔报道。