Socks Under Quota, Ski Pants Free
You may have to start taking out a scorecard to keep track of what imported apparel items are under quota.
On Nov. 1, the United States and China signed an agreement limiting Chinese sock imports into the United States to slightly more than 120 million pairs until the end of the year. “The agreement permits the administration to delay action until the end of December on a sock industry request to renew a yearlong sock safeguard quota that expired,” said David Spooner, the chief textile negotiator for the U.S. trade representative’s office.
However, after several complaints from skiwear companies, the Bush administration decided that imports of ski and snowboard pants from China were not disrupting the U.S. market and would not be embargoed.
Ski and snowboard pants had been classified under the synthetic-trousers category, which was placed under safeguard quotas in May and embargoed Aug. 3.
But the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), a federal agency that determines which textiles will be placed under quota, found there were few domestic manufacturers of skiwear and snowboard apparel. Starting Nov. 1, the goods were being allowed into the country, including those items sitting in bonded warehouses.
Meanwhile, China and the United States resumed textile talks in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 30. This was the fifth round of negotiations. After about two days of discussions, talks ended on a positive note. “Our discussions this week have yielded substantial progress on a large number of issues. We look forward to meeting again soon,” Spooner said in a statement released Nov. 2. According to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, the two sides are trying to work through product coverage and growth-rate issues. Officials did not say when the next meetings would occur.
Both sides are seeking some kind of blanket solution to curb apparel imports from China to give U.S. manufacturers and importers an element of predictability for their sourcing plans.
In the past, the Chinese have wanted the import limits to extend through 2007 while the United States was pushing for 2008.
Under safeguard measures, imports are limited on a category-by-category basis. Each safeguard curb expires on a different date. It is also difficult to predict when each quota will be used up.
Because of the optimistic nature of the talks, CITA postponed until Nov. 8 its decision on whether to impose safeguard quotas on swimwear, skirts, nightwear and pajamas, and women’s and girls’ woven shirts. —Deborah Belgum
