U.S. to Boost Monitoring of Chinese Textile Imports

The Bush administration, faced with a flood of clothing and other textiles from China, said Monday that it was starting special monitoring to keep track of imports now that global quotas have ended.

Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said the new procedure would provide reports every other week on textile and apparel imports. Currently, the data for a given month are not available until six weeks after the month ends.

“This action demonstrates the commitment of this administration to put in place the tools necessary to enforce our trade agreements and level the playing field to support our domestic textile and apparel industry,” Gutierrez said.

His announcement said the new monitoring system should be in place by the first week of April. The preliminary reports of textile and apparel imports will be posted every other week on a website that will be maintained by the Office of Textiles and Apparel, which is part of the department’s International Trade Administration.

Domestic textile and clothing makers praised the decision, saying they hoped it would lead to their ultimate goal of persuading the administration to reinstitute quotas on Chinese imports.

“We are confident that the data the U.S. government will be releasing will show dramatic increases in U.S. imports of textile and apparel products from China,” said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition.

“This data will help to prove the industry’s claim that China is disrupting the U.S. market. It will also make it clear that the U.S. government must act quickly to impose safeguards,” Tantillo said.

The industry has asked the administration to cap the growth in various categories of Chinese textile and clothing imports at 7.5% this year over last year’s level.

According to data released this month, imports of textiles and clothing from China surged in January, the first month that global quotas that had been in place for decades were eliminated.

The U.S. trade deficit climbed to $58.3 billion in January, the second-highest level on record, with the surge in textile and apparel shipments from China blamed for much of the increase.

The U.S. textile and apparel industry, which has suffered heavy job losses for years because of competition from low-wage countries, has warned of further heavy losses unless shipments from China are limited.