China said Tuesday that US government's acceptance of industrial
appeal, which will result in import quota on Chinese fabric
products, will seriously impact Sino-US trade ties.
Chinese Ministry of
Commerce spokesman Chong Quan said the US government's action
encouraged US industries to abuse special safeguard measures on
Chinese fabric products, which permit import restriction under easy
condition.
The US Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements,
an interagency group chaired by the US Department of Commerce,
accepted appeal from domestic industry on imports limitation of
certain cotton yarn, accusing growth of such products of disrupting
the US market.
It's the seventh such application adopted by US government since
last month, following re-imposed import quotas on bath gowns, bras,
socks and certain textiles and another six restriction application
on cotton and fabric textiles including trousers and shirts.
"Chinese government has strived to solve the problem through
enhancing exchange and cooperation," Chong said, "however, the US
government ignored that."
Some US industrial organizations require restrictions on Chinese
textile products based on an assumption, damaging the free trade of
textile products and will extend imports quota in another way, he
said.
The US government's action violates conditions delineated in the
legal documents for China's WTO admission and US domestic rules on
the procedure, as well as run counter to WTO's principle of free
trade, he said.?
That will severely frustrate Chinese companies' and people's
confidence in the international trade environment after its WTO
accession and sabotage the multilateral trade system, Chong
noted.
"Trade on textile products was very sensitive and important to
China and the United States as well," Chong said, "Chinese
government urges the US government to handle such cases cautiously
and adhere to the WTO rules set upon China's accession."
"If the US government allows such momentum despite of the fact
and WTO rules, it will cause serious impact on bilateral trade and
economic ties," Chong said, noting that China "retains the right to
take further actions" within the World Trade Organization (WTO)
framework.?
Sino-US trade hit US$126 billion in 2003. Chinese exports to the
US market recorded US$92 billion, with US$7 billion of that made up
of fabric products.??
(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2004)