China said Saturday that it firmly opposes a US decision on
restricting three categories of textile imports from China, saying
it is a violation of relevant World Trade Organization
agreements.
Chong Quan, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said
in a statement that China believes that its exports of cotton knit
shirts, cotton trousers, cotton and man-made fiber underwear have
not disrupted the US market, as the US side has claimed based on
figures of the first quarter of the year.
US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez announced Friday that
the US government has decided to re-impose quotas on the three
types of apparel imports from China.
The decision made by the Committee for the Implementation of
Textile Agreements means that the quantity of the relevant apparel
goods China can export to the United States will be limited to an
increase of just 7.5 percent this year, compared to shipments over
a 12-month base period.
"The US decision runs counter to World Trade Organization's
agreements on trade of textile and apparel products, deviates from
the WTO spirit of free trade, and fails to conform to the
conditions for launching article 242 in documents concerning
China's accession to the WTO," Chong said.
Article 242 says in general that WTO members can impose limits
on certain types of China-originated clothing when an import surge
occurs and caused market disruption.
Chong added that the US decision violated relevant procedure of
the United States, damaged the rightful interests of China's
businesses and "severely undermined the confidence of China's
businesses and people in the world trade environment.
The world eliminated the quota regime on textile goods on
January 1 this year. As a major supplier of textile goods and
garments, China has faced limits or threat to limit from the United
States and the European Union lately.
Chong Quan said the US decision has set a "very bad precedent"
as it is based on "inaccurate figures gathered in a short period of
time."
He said China reserves the right to "take further actions within
the WTO framework."
The spokesman urged the United States to correct its wrong
decision so that China-US trade will not suffer because of the US
abuse of protectionist measures.
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(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2005)