U.S. May Reimpose China Safeguards
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) announced Monday that it will begin China safeguard proceedings:
The proceedings were triggered after certain textile imports from China saw substantial volume increases after expiration of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement 1 January 2005. The committee will review imports of cotton knit shirts, cotton trousers, and cotton and man-made fiber underwear.
On Wednesday, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) said that since quotas expired January 1, 2005, 191 apparel and textile workers have lost their jobs every single day.
AMTAC offered these disturbing statistics:
- In the first three months of the year, all U.S. textile and apparel imports from China increased by 63 percent.
- China’s share of the U.S. import market in the apparel categories released from quota on January 1, 2002 jumped from less than 10 percent to more than 70 percent in less than three years.
- According to Chinese Customs data, China’s exports to the United States in the most sensitive apparel categories are up 349 percent for the first two months of this year while prices are down 31 percent.
- Since January 2001, U.S. textile and apparel employment has fallen from 1,047,200 to 665,900 as of March 2005. The loss of 381,300 jobs represents 36.4 percent of the January 2001 workforce.
Al Jazeera said in a story dated 5 April 2005, that some trade experts believe the government action is about winning votes for CAFTA:
NAFTA, CAFTA or WTO, it doesn’t matter which acronym you choose, because they all mean about the same thing—American workers getting the short end of the stick.
