Textile industrialists and market watchers yesterday shrugged off concerns about the impact of US textile curbs on Chinese imports, saying the proposed measure will be beneficial to Taiwan's textile industry.
As about half of Taiwanese textile manufacturers have moved part of their factories across the Taiwan Strait or formed joint ventures with Chinese counterparts, many businesspeople were concerned that the policy would hurt Taiwanese textile businesses in China.
"The proposed quotas are not expected to have a negative impact on Taiwanese manufacturers in China, in terms of export volume during the period in which the measure is in effect," Chen Tieh-han (
"Instead, the cap on Chinese textile imports imposed by the US may instead bring business opportunities for local industry," he added.
The US Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements on Monday voted to invoke safeguard measures on imports from China, including knitted fabrics, robes and brassieres.
The US plans to cap import growth to 7.5 percent from the beginning of next year until 2005 in response to a petition filed by the US textile industry in July, which claimed the flood of cheap goods is costing jobs in the US.
According to US Customs statistics, China exported 6,371 tonnes of knitted fabrics to the US as of the end of September this year, a 220 percent surge from 2001. In the same period, the US imported 10,629 tonnes of the same item from Taiwan, a 28 percent decline from last year.
"If the US follows through its decision, it may be willing to import more textile goods from Taiwan," said Huang Lin-ping (
Huang said that China has become Taiwan's largest rival in the US textile market after its accession to the WTO at the end of 2001 with its cheaper products. Although Taiwan still leads China by a wide margin in the market, the stunning growth of the Chinese industry makes it a formidable competitor for Taiwan in a near future, Huang said.
Huang pointed out that the limits on robes and brassieres will not impact Taiwanese companies, as Taiwan is not a major exporter of these products.
The incident, however, again sent a warning to Taiwanese businesspeople in China not to put all their eggs in the Chinese basket.
"Aside from the textile industry, China is becoming the most attractive market for siphoning out investment from the world in every sector," Chen said. "In the meantime, it is also becoming the biggest target for trade retaliation launched by advanced countries, as seen in this case."
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