China's Commerce Minister Bo Xilai (
"We believe that WTO members will honor their word," Bo said in a speech to a conference in Beijing. Open textile markets are an "important right" secured in exchange for concessions during China's negotiations to enter the global trade body, he said.
US textile makers are preparing to file dozens of trade complaints against China in a bid to cap an expected surge in imports of pants, shirts, towels and other items, the National Council of Textile Organizations said on Sept. 1.
National Spinning Co and Milliken & Co are among companies that say the US will lose as many as 600,000 of its 700,000 textile and apparel jobs next year with the expiration of quotas on Jan. 1.
Once the four-decade-old quotas are eliminated, China will dominate the global trade in clothing, according to the WTO and US International Trade Commission. US apparel and shoe imports from China grew to more than US$27 billion last year, a 50 percent increase from 1999. China will grow to supply 50 percent of US clothing imports after the quota system ends, from 16 percent in 1995, the WTO said in a report in August.
China has 90 million workers employed directly or indirectly in the textile industry and the government is paying "high attention" to the issue, Bo said. The Bush administration has said it will consider the complaints on a case-by-case basis.
US President George W. Bush, who is seeking re-election in November, has come under pressure from American lawmakers, companies and unions who blame unfair Chinese trade practices for contributing to 2.8 million jobs lost since early 2001. The US trade deficit with China reached a record US$124 billion last year.
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