Apparel importers condemn CITA’s decision to impose safeguards

Apparel importers condemn CITAÆs decision to impose safeguards    U.S. apparel importers have reacted angrily to last Friday's imposition of safeguards by the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) on three categories of apparel made in China.
   'All pretense of legitimate deliberation was clearly dropped,' said Laura E. Jones, executive director of the United States Association of Importers of Textile and Apparel (USA-ITA). 'To make a decision affecting billions of dollars in business less than four days after a public comment period closes only shows that the government did not seriously consider the facts,' Jones said.
   During a 30-day public comment period that just ended, 'in which a large number of companies invested a great deal of time and effort to explain why safeguards would be wrong, why they won't help the U.S. industry, and why products 'made in China' are in many cases items that are not made there, the government takes all of four days to say that our views don't matter,' Jones said.
   CITA said the U.S. will re-establish quotas on cotton trousers, cotton knit shirts, and cotton and manmade fiber underwear from China.
   'We are pleased that the U.S. government approved these safeguard cases. The unprecedented surge of Chinese imports imperiled tens of thousands of jobs, leaving the government no choice but to act,' said Auggie Tantillo,' executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), a lobbying group for U.S. domestic textile and apparel manufacturers.
   'The U.S. textile industry has additional safeguard cases pending in other critical categories too. AMTAC urges the government to approve all of them as quickly as possible. Finally, this isn't the end. The U.S. textile industry plans to file several more safeguard cases in the near future,' Tantillo said.
   The next step is for the United States to send China a diplomatic cable requesting consultations on the three categories of apparel. At that time, Chinese exports of named categories will be limited to 7.5 percent.
   The United States and China then have 90 days to consult and try to reach an agreement on limiting the growth of Chinese exports to the U.S. in the categories named. If no agreement is reached, the United States can maintain the 7.5 growth limit in those three categories through the end of 2005.
   When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2002, China agreed to be subject to textile and clothing safeguards through the end of 2008.
   CITA is a five-member interagency panel made up of representatives from the departments of state, treasury, commerce, labor, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.