EU-type textile deal with US currently unlikely, China says

Chinese trade negotiators have largely given up hope of reaching a EU-type agreement with the US on resolving a simmering row over textile quotas, state press said yesterday.

A second round of technical talks on China's booming textile exports were to be held yesterday in Beijing, the final round before a major bilateral trade meeting next week, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

"There is little likelihood for a lot of progress [on textiles] coming out of this round of Sino-US consultations; most of the discussions will be aimed at preparing for the Sino-US Joint Committee on Commerce and Trade (JCCT)," the paper quoted Commerce Ministry officials as saying.

US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, US Trade Representative Rob Portman and US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns will hold discussions in Beijing with Vice Premier Wu Yi (吳儀) and Trade Minister Bo Xilai (薄熙來) at the annual JCCT on Monday.

US officials in Beijing said a series of trade agreements were likely to be signed during the visit but doubted that a specific bilateral agreement on the textile row would be inked.

China and the EU headed off a trade war early last month when they agreed to limit the annual growth of 10 Chinese textile product exports to the EU to between 8.5 and 12.5 percent until the end of 2007. Both sides hailed the agreement as a victory for free trade, with Beijing urging the US to seek a similar pact and forgo unilateral moves, albeit under WTO rules, that will cap the growth of specified imports at 7.5 percent annually until 2007.

The US has placed restrictions on seven Chinese textile products after they rose dramatically into the US following the ending of a global textile tariff system on Jan. 1.