Since the global integration of textile trade in 2005, China’s textile export has been experiencing a steady overall increase, which grows even faster to regions originally with quota control. By June 2005, China’s textile export reached US$50.35 billion, up by 21% on a year-on-year basis, of which export to the US stood at US$8.34 billion and to the EU US$8.65 billion, up by 76% and 57% respectively.

Under such background, turning a blind eye to the WTO rules and the basic rights of China as a WTO member, some WTO members continuously took restrictive measures against Chinese textile exports. On June 11, China and the EU reached an understanding on the issue of textile trade and smoothed away a trade friction. However, China-US differences on textile trade are still up in the air. What are the latest developments in the US restriction on Chinese textile exports? Is there any progress made during the China-US textile consultations? Director General of the Department of Foreign Trade of MOFCOM answered such questions and more from the press recently.

Ques: Since May, the US successively took restrictive measures or initiated investigations against Chinese textile exports. The US industry lately filed a petition for restrictions on our textile exports. Could you share with me the general picture of China-US textile trade and the latest progress in resolving the trade dispute?

Ans: According to the statistics of the Customs of China, in the first 5 months, China-US textile trade amounted to US$6.58 billion, accounting for 8.5% of total bilateral trade in the same period, which was US$77.7 billion. Statistics show that in the first 4 months, the US imported US$7.5 billion worth of textile products from China, accounting for 12.6% of the country’s total import of such products worldwide in the period, which was US$59.6 billion.
On May 23 and 27, the US government applied restrictions on 7 categories of Chinese textile products, namely, cotton trousers, cotton shirts and blouses, knitted, underwear, trousers of man-made fibres, shirts of man-made fibres, knitted, men’s and boys’ woven shirts, and combed cotton yarn.

According to statistics from the US Customs, in the first 4 months, the US imported the above 7 categories of products worth US$1.42 billion, of which men’s and boys’ woven shirts had the biggest market share of 15.9%, while combed cotton yarn had the smallest (3.2%). Meanwhile, the US government is making investigations for restrictive measures on other 6 categories, namely, yarn of other synthetic staple fibres mixed with cotton, pullovers, trousers of wool, knitted fabrics, brassieres and dressing gowns.

According to the US Customs, from January to April, US imports of the above 6 categories registered at US$330 million, of which brassieres enjoyed the biggest market share of 43.2%, and knitted fabrics the smallest, 8.4%. On July 18 and 22, the US government declared the suspension of the decision on restrictions on 2 of the 6 categories, yarn of other synthetic staple fibres mixed with cotton and trousers of wool. As for the remaining 4 categories under investigation, the US government will make a decision on whether or not to apply restrictive measures at the beginning of August on the basis of the US implementing procedures of Paragraph 242.

In addition, the US industry recently filed petitions to its government for restrictive measures on 6 Chinese textile exports, namely curtain, women’s and girls’ woven shirts and blouses, dresses, nightdresses, swimwear and hosiery. At present the US government has accepted the application on curtain and will decide on whether to accept other applications on July 29 and August 1.