US Sock Makers Ask Govt To Impose Quota On China Imports
WASHINGTON (AP)--American textile manufacturers asked the Bush administration on Monday to limit shipments of Chinese-made socks into the U.S., seeking similar relief that the administration provided to makers of three other textile products last year.
"It is not too late to save our domestic sock industry," said Charles Cole , chairman of the Hosiery Association's Domestic Manufacturing Committee. "The U.S. sock industry is the most competitive sector of the U.S. apparel industry we have left in this country."
The Commerce Department will have until July 20 to decide whether to take the case filed by four textile groups and then will have at least three more months to conduct an investigation and decide whether to grant the request for import relief.
The industry asked that a quota be imposed that would cap the growth in Chinese sock imports at 7.5% over the next year, far below the sizable increases that have been occurring.
The U.S. industry said that sock imports from China have grown to 22 million dozen pairs in 2003 from less than 1 million dozen pairs in 2001.
Because of the heavy Chinese competition, the industry said that U.S. sock production has dropped to 166 million dozen pairs in 2003 from 207 million dozen pairs in 2001. Domestic sock makers account for 40% of the U.S. market but that share has dropped from 76% in 1999, the industry said.
"We have a very compelling case for quota relief and expect the most stringent possible quota limit to be imposed on Chinese sock imports as soon as possible," Cole said in a statement.
The petition by U.S. sock-makers was similar to the relief obtained by U.S. manufacturers of bras, dressing gowns and knit fabric last November - a move that was denounced by the Chinese government as unwarranted protectionism.
The Bush administration is under heavy pressure during the current election year to show that it is taking actions to deal with America's soaring trade deficits and the loss of nearly 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs since mid-2000.
China is a particular target because the U.S. recorded a $124 billion trade deficit with that country last year, the largest imbalance ever with a single country.
Two Bush Cabinet members, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, traveled to China last week where they pressed the Chinese government to make a number of changes aimed at narrowing the trade gap.
The administration officials urged the government to loosen China's currency controls, strengthen workers' bargaining rights and reduce government control of the economy.
The petition to impose quotas on sock imports from China, as with the other three apparel products last year, would re-impose quotas that were being eliminated as part of a decade-long phaseout of textile quotas worldwide. All textile quotas are scheduled to be removed on Jan. 1 of next year.
As part of the negotiations that covered China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, the U.S. secured provisions that allow it to re-impose quotas on China at least through 2008 to deal with surges in textile shipments to the U.S. that the U.S. government determines to be a "significant cause of material injury, or threat of material injury to the domestic industry."
美国袜子制造商要求政府限制进口中国袜子
美国纺织品制造商周一要求布什(Bush)政府对中国制造袜子输入美国加以限制，希望政府能够为袜子制造商提供去年为其他3种纺织品所提供的类似救济。
美国袜业协会国内制造委员会(Hosiery Association's Domestic Manufacturing Committee)主席Charles Cole说，目前著手来救助美国国内袜业为时还不算太晚；美国袜业目前是美国服装业硕果仅存最具竞争性的行业。
美国商务部(Commerce Department)将在7月20日就是否受理由4家纺织业团体提出的这一申请作出裁决，随后至少还要花3个月的时间就此展开调查，并就是否同意这一实施进口救济的要求作出裁决。
美国袜业要求对中国袜子进口实施配额限制，以便将中国明年的袜子进口增长限制在7.5%的水平，目前中国袜子对美出口的增长率远远高于这一水平。
美国袜业声称，2003年来自中国的袜子进口从2001年的不足100万打增至2,200万打。
由于来自中国的激烈竞争，美国袜子制造从2001年的2.07亿打降至2003年的1.66亿打。美国国内袜子生产商目前在美国市场的占有率已从1999年的76%降至40%。
Cole在一份声明中称，这一案件非常引人注目，预计将会尽快对中国袜子进口实施尽可能严厉的配额限制。
美国袜子生产商的这一申请，与美国胸衣、睡袍和针织布料制造商去年所获得的救济有相似之处，中国政府将此斥之为毫无根据的贸易保护主义。
对中国袜子进口实施配额限制的申请，与去年对中国其他3类服装产品实施的配额限制，均是在历时10年之久的全球范围内逐步取消纺织品配额的努力中对正在取消配额限制的产品再次实施配额限制。按照计划所有的纺织品配额均将在2005年1月1日取消。
作为中国2001年加入世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization, WTO)谈判的部分内容，美国赢得了至少在2008年以前允许其对中国制造产品再次实施配额限制条款的谈判胜利，以便解决中国对美纺织品出口激增的问题。美国政府将此裁定为，中国对美纺织品出口的激增，是美国国内纺织品行业遭到实质性损害的重大由头，或对美国国内纺织品行业遭到实质性损害构成了威胁。
