EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson is to recommend next week that the European Commission open investigations into some Chinese textile imports, the first step to slapping limits on them, his spokeswoman said yesterday.
"After having a detailed look at the statistics available to us on imports from China, imports of textiles and clothing that is, Peter Mandelson decided that at the beginning of next week he will be advising the commission to open investigations and also, of course, to consult informally with the Chinese authorities," spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said.
Mandelson is to raise the subject at meeting with EU trade ministers in Luxembourg tomorrow, she added.
The EU's executive arm had been waiting to get enough viable statistics on Chinese textile imports since the beginning of the year to decide whether it was necessary to start the process towards imposing limits.
"At this stage, we have sufficient data to consider recommending measures," the spokeswoman said.
She explained that an investigation would be on a category-by-category basis.
On Jan. 1, a 31-year-old textile quota system expired, leaving producers in developed and developing states bracing for a wave of imports from China.
At the beginning of the month, Washington launched an investigation to see if booming Chinese textile exports were shaking up the US market.
China has reacted angrily to the groundswell for protectionist measures in the West against its textile exports, insisting that it should not be penalized for having more competitive industries.
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