NCTO claims Chinese textile exports to US have soared
According to the National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO), trade figures released by the US department of commerce on March 13 showed that imports of Chinese apparel removed from quota on January 1 are soaring as China slashes prices to gain market share. The council adds that the figures follow recent employment data that shows a dramatic decline in US textile and apparel jobs.
The commerce data showed that in January, imports of apparel products formerly under quota, such as Chinese trousers, underwear and shirts, increased by 36%, despite sharply falling retail markets and overall import declines. At the same time, Chinese exporters slashed prices by as much as 20% in order to increase market share.
NCTO president, Cass Johnson said: “As subsidised Chinese exports pour into the United States, we are witnessing a new wave of textile and apparel closures in the United States. Twenty thousand textile and apparel jobs have been lost during the first two months of the year. This is the human cost of the lack of trade enforcement in this country.
”We call upon the Obama Administration to begin its monitoring programme, as promised last October, as soon as possible.”
The US textile industry is one of the largest manufacturing employers in the US, employing more than 675,000 workers in 2008. Textile mills alone employed 298,000 workers. The US is the third largest exporter of textile products in the world, with exports exceeding $16 billion in 2008. Almost two-thirds of US textile exports in 2008 were sent to developing countries. The US textile industry exported to more than 50 countries.
