U.S., China Said to Be Near Textile Pact

The United States and China are close to a broad textile trade pact to deal with surging imports from China but will probably need another meeting to reach an agreement, the Bush administration’s textile negotiator said.

David Spooner, the White House special textile negotiator, said two days of talks in San Francisco have been fruitful but have not yet yielded a deal.

He added that if a final meeting was needed it would probably take place in China before Aug. 31 -- the date when the Bush administration is expected to make a decision on requests for additional restrictions on textile imports from China.