Senior officials in Beijing have said that any efforts to restrict Chinese exports would be a violation of free trade, would smack of protectionism and violate the principles of the WTO.
China is not without its supporters in Washington. Clothes retailers and importers are up in arms over the pressure for curbs on Chinese textile shipments.
More broadly, the clamor for textile restrictions is being tolerated by an administration that says free trade is one of its most pressing priorities, with the WTO's "Doha round" of negotiations approaching its climax at the end of this year.
"Worst of all, this isn't the auto or semiconductor industry, fields where the United States and Europe can actually claim that economic stability is at stake. Our domestic textile sectors have been on the decline for years," commentator Clay Risen wrote in the influential liberal journal The New Republic.
"It's not the end of the world if Washington, Paris, and Brussels follow through on their threats to reinstate textile quotas. Just don't be surprised if the next time we make a push for free trade, the rest of the world decides not to play along," he said.
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