The key is always in the last bit
Quotas Lifted, Chinese Imports Soar
By Paul Blustein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 12, 2005; Page E01
Imports of Chinese clothing surged 47 percent in January, the first month after the expiration of a global system of quotas on the textile and apparel trade, according to U.S. government figures released yesterday.
U.S. textile industry representatives said the data provide clear evidence China is starting to swamp worldwide markets for apparel, now that it is no longer constrained by the quotas that limited the amount individual countries could ship to rich markets such as the United States. The industry and its main union demanded that the Bush administration take prompt action to curtail Chinese shipments.
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"The numbers released by the government confirm our predictions and fears with respect to China's ability to export massive amounts of goods to the United States in the textile and apparel sector, and to begin to monopolize the U.S. market," said Augustine D. Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which includes many U.S. textile makers.
Retailers and other importers of clothing argued that the figures should be interpreted in a diametrically opposite way. They pointed out that imports from many other countries, such as Jordan and El Salvador, also soared in January.