Obama sympathises with textile sector
Senator Barack Obama has written a letter to the National Council on Textile Organisations to answer complaints from the trade body that China was manipulating its currency to gain a competitive advantage in the global textile marketplace.
Senator Obama said in the letter that China's massive trade surplus with the US was a direct result of "manipulation of its currency's value". He went on to say: "China must change its policies, including its foreign-exchange policies." The senator also promised to monitor textile shipments from China, once import limits on a wide range of Chinese-made apparel expire at the end of the year. And he promised to make use of trade-remedy laws to protect textile producers if they are threatened by unfair competition from overseas. "I am especially aware of the trade challenges faced by those working in our textile industries," he said.
