September 11, 2003
Contact:
Marjory Walker
(901) 274-9030
MEMPHIS - The recent proposal offered by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to link discussions of fiber market and textile product distortions is a significant step in World Trade Organization (WTO) proceedings.
National Cotton Council Chairman Robert W. Greene, a cotton ginner from Courtland, AL, noted, "I am quite pleased that the USTR has recognized the important linkage between world fiber markets and the production and trade in textile and apparel products. The Council’s testimony and statements on trade have continually highlighted the relationship between fiber markets and end-product production and trade. In fact, such negotiation may find that the market distortions in textile and apparel production and trade dwarf those associated with fiber production."
Council economists estimate that 84 percent of all textile and apparel products sold in the U.S. are now imported – amounting to the equivalent of more than 17 million bales. While the U.S. has become the market of choice for most of the world’s textile producers, those same countries virtually lock out imports of textile and apparel products. They said critics of U.S. cotton support often overlook the exports of cotton textile and apparel from China that equate to almost 20 million cotton bales. Chinese exports are displacing textiles from other countries and are entering trade channels at lower and lower prices. The U.S. textile industry has absorbed huge losses and plant closures as imports, especially from Asia, disrupt the U.S. textile supply chain. Addressing the policies and practices that have slashed U.S. jobs and undercut textile manufacturers should be an integral component of any WTO negotiation.
Council President Mark Lange said, "Negotiations in such an arena will necessarily be comprehensive and complex. However, the opportunity to address the distortions engendered by industrial policies of many textile and apparel exporting countries is vital to obtaining a level playing field for trade."
National Cotton Council Chairman Robert W. Greene, a cotton ginner from Courtland, AL, noted, "I am quite pleased that the USTR has recognized the important linkage between world fiber markets and the production and trade in textile and apparel products. The Council’s testimony and statements on trade have continually highlighted the relationship between fiber markets and end-product production and trade. In fact, such negotiation may find that the market distortions in textile and apparel production and trade dwarf those associated with fiber production."
Council economists estimate that 84 percent of all textile and apparel products sold in the U.S. are now imported – amounting to the equivalent of more than 17 million bales. While the U.S. has become the market of choice for most of the world’s textile producers, those same countries virtually lock out imports of textile and apparel products. They said critics of U.S. cotton support often overlook the exports of cotton textile and apparel from China that equate to almost 20 million cotton bales. Chinese exports are displacing textiles from other countries and are entering trade channels at lower and lower prices. The U.S. textile industry has absorbed huge losses and plant closures as imports, especially from Asia, disrupt the U.S. textile supply chain. Addressing the policies and practices that have slashed U.S. jobs and undercut textile manufacturers should be an integral component of any WTO negotiation.
Council President Mark Lange said, "Negotiations in such an arena will necessarily be comprehensive and complex. However, the opportunity to address the distortions engendered by industrial policies of many textile and apparel exporting countries is vital to obtaining a level playing field for trade."
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