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U.S. Announces Limits on Apparel Imports From China
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| Contributor | Eddie |
| Last Edited | Eddie Nov 18, 2003 10:03pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Tuesday, November 18, 2003 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The Bush administration said it would restrict imports of knit fabric, robes and brassieres from China amid complaints from U.S. manufacturers and lawmakers that unfair competition is costing mill jobs in states such as North Carolina.
``What the administration is saying to textile and apparel makers in this country is that `We feel your pain,''' said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics, a Washington-based research group. Hufbauer said today's action may be the first in a series of actions against China that could take place over the next year.
The textile industry has closed more than 250 U.S. plants since 1997, including more than 50 in the last 18 months, the American Textile Manufacturers Institute says. More than 200,000 workers have lost their jobs in the industry in the past six years, including 30,000 since January 2002, the trade group says.
Steven Dunaway, the head of the International Monetary Fund's China team, said the U.S. action ``was a big risk.'' Dunaway said the move could prompt China to retaliate with similar measures. ``It's the kind of situation the IMF strongly discourages,'' he said.
``This covers a very small amount of the industry,'' said Wilbur Ross, chief executive of WL Ross & Co. His company this month completed its purchase of Burlington, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and plans to buy Cone Mills Corp. Both textile companies are based in Greensboro, North Carolina.
``These are good first steps,'' Ross said in an interview. ``We need to take more dramatic steps.''
Ross has also supported the steel tariffs that Bush imposed in March 2002. His International Steel Group Inc. became the second-largest U.S. steel maker by buying companies including Bethlehem Steel Co. and LTV Steel Co. out of bankruptcy.
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