Chinese textile manufacturers, already victims of overseas
dumping charges and safeguard measures, now face a potential US
countervailing investigation.
The US National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is
getting in touch with lawyers representing US paper enterprises,
which initiated the first countervailing case against Chinese
products, to launch similar charges against "Made in China"
garments, according to China Chamber of Commerce for Import and
Export of Textiles (CCCT).
The US Department of Commerce in March announced a preliminary
countervailing duty on "Made in China" coated paper. With that, it
contravened a two-decade rule of not applying the trade remedy to
goods from so-called non-market economies, like China.
"The US industrial organization may not launch the case in the
near future but it is likely to make the decision for the next step
after the final ruling on the coated paper case," said an official
with CCCT who declined to give her name.
US industry or government might stir into action when the
Sino-US agreement on textile trade, which caps the growth of
China's textile and garment exports to the United States, expires
in 2008.
The removal of quotas in global textile trade triggered in 2005
a surge in China's textile exports to the US. The American
government, which feared this might hurt its domestic industry,
launched special safeguard measures on a few categories of Chinese
textiles and garments. The two countries finally reached the
agreement after months of negotiations.
"If the NCTO does file a complaint against Chinese garments at
the US Department of Commerce, the investigation will affect a much
larger scale of subsidies than in the coated paper case," said a
CCCT official.
CCCT noted the possible investigation on Chinese garment
industry, which is mainly export-oriented, is likely to target
export-promoting subsidies, policies and taxation. It may result in
higher countervailing duties. In the paper case, the US mainly
investigated the "favorable loans".
Some experts worry that other industries in China are also
likely to face similar cases in the US.
"Within six months, we think a dozen or so new preliminary
countervailing findings will be in place against Chinese firms,"
said Stephen Green, senior economist with Standard Chartered.
Matthew McConkey, an expert from US-based law firm DLA Piper,
said a number of US firms are "watching and preparing". The US
flooring industry, for example, is likely to file a countervailing
complaint against its Chinese rivals.
He predicted there would be at least three to four similar cases
from the US this year and said the scale of the cases would also
increase.
(China Daily May 11, 2007)