U.S. Textile Makers File Petition
U.S. apparel manufacturers, injecting a controversial trade issue into the presidential campaign, filed a petition late Friday asking the Bush administration to restrict imports of Chinese-made woven cotton pants, a leading category of imported clothing.
The filing’s timing forces the Commerce Department to decide before the Nov. 2 election whether to accept the industry’s request for so-called safeguard measures. Under World Trade Organization rules, the government has 15 days to accept or reject a petition.
The manufacturers want the U.S. government to impose restraints based on their concern that Chinese-made imports will surge after global quotas on apparel and textiles are eliminated at year-end. They claim that the United States will lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if such steps are not taken.
Last year, the U.S. imported $11.4 billion worth of woven pants, representing 18% of all imported apparel.
The manufacturers had signaled on Sept. 1 their intention to file a series of petitions that would put the Bush administration in an awkward position in the final weeks of a tight race.
Presidential challenger Sen. John F. Kerry has accused President Bush of failing to protect American workers and has promised to take tougher action against China if elected. The Bush administration denies that, contending it is making significant progress in improving U.S.-China trade relations.
The hard-hit textile and apparel industry, which shed 175,000 jobs last year, remains a powerful political force in key electoral states.
Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, one of five petitioners, said the domestic industry had provided “overwhelming evidence” that China was poised to dominate the global market.
If the petition is accepted, it faces a 90-day period for public comments and investigation. If the Bush administration upholds the claims, it can impose a one-year quota on Chinese goods at a level 7.5% higher than the previous year’s imports.
The textile manufacturers promised to file at least 10 more safeguard petitions next week covering popular imports such as woven shirts. They said those filings were delayed because of the complexity of the data.
But apparel firms opposed to such measures contend that under WTO rules, the United States can’t impose any restraints until quotas are lifted and there is evidence of a surge in imports. They argue such limits add billions of dollars to apparel prices and will simply divert production to other low-cost foreign producers.
