New Delhi: The United States has assured India that it would not impose restrictions on Indian textile imports on the line of curbs on the Chinese textile imports since the WTO agreement on lifting of quota had provided the U.S. safeguards only against China.

"It will rather help countries like India," U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said here.

The U.S. and China have signed a comprehensive bilateral textile agreement that will ensure "stability and predictability" for American retailers and producers. The agreement, signed on November 8 last after months of intensive negotiations, covers more than 30 individual products and contains quotas that will begin at low levels in January 2006 but will increase gradually by about three per cent each year over a period of three years.

Indian trade and industry felt that the U.S. agreement with China ran contrary to the spirit of WTO that is meant to ensure restriction-free trade in textile under the Agreement on Textile and Clothing which came into effect from January 2005.

Mr. Portman said China's accession to the WTO came only four years ago and the safeguards against surge in Chinese textile exports were provided in the accession agreement. "No such provision exists for India," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath intervened.

Mr. Portman said the comprehensive agreement with China, which restricts the export growth between eight per cent and 18 per cent would prove beneficial to countries like India since China had flooded the U.S. market immediately after the world textile trade became quota-free. -- UNI

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