Four New Textile Petitions Filed
September 23, 2005
September 23, 2005 -- After 31 U.S. textile plant closures in 2005 and China?s failure to agree to a reasonable comprehensive textile deal with the United States after four rounds of bilateral consultations, U.S. textile industry and labor union officials announced that they had filed four new safeguard petitions on Wednesday.
The new petitions cover the following products: men?s wool suits, coats of man-made fiber, cheesecloth and polyester filament fabric. The combined value of total U.S. imports for the new petition categories for year-to-date 2005 is $1.78 billion, with imports from China accounting for $487 million of that total.
?Just as we promised last week, these new filings demonstrate that the U.S. industry aggressively will utilize the World Trade Organization safeguard process to the fullest degree possible,? stated coalition executive director, Auggie Tantillo. ?The U.S. textile industry will keep filing safeguard petitions until all categories of interest to us are covered or the Chinese agree to a reasonable comprehensive agreement.?
A fifth round of bilateral consultations between the United States and China is scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27.
Staff contact: Peter Orwick, ext. 33
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