China and U.S. open textile negotiations

China and U.S. open textile negotiations

BEIJING (AFP): Chinese and U.S negotiators opened crucial textile talks here yesterday which look to go to the wire with a Chinese deadline for sanctions on U.S. imports due to take effect Friday.

The discussions are the fourth round of negotiations between the two sides since the United States in September announced a cut in import quotas for Chinese textiles, alleging garment transshipment via third countries.

China strongly protested against the cuts and announced it would retaliate by slapping a temporary ban on selected U.S. imports, including animal husbandry products, fruits, alcoholic drinks, beverages and some textiles.

The U.S. negotiating team was once again led by Washington's special negotiator for textiles, Rita Hayes, who arrived in the Chinese capital on Sunday.

According to U.S. embassy sources, both sides are willing to continue talking right up to the Friday deadline for the Chinese ban, the imposition of which has already been delayed twice to allow discussions to continue.

The talks will focus on the drafting of a new bilateral textile accord to replace a 1994 agreement that expired at the end of last year.

U.S. textile manufacturers are pushing for greater access to the Chinese market, while China is seeking a revision of the U.S. quota system.

The latest row has come at a difficult time for China's textile industry, which was for a long time the country's top export earner -- a ranking it had to relinquish in 1995 to machinery and electronic products.

Annual textile exports in 1996 fell for the first time in a decade.