Posted February 17, 2015

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) applauded U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman’s decision to pursue dispute settlement consultations with the Government of China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning China’s “Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform” export subsidy program.

 

Through this program, China provides WTO prohibited export subsidies to manufacturers that meet export performance criteria, according to NCTO. These illegal subsidies have bolstered China’s meteoritic export surge of textiles and apparel into the U.S. market, the council said.

 

China’s massive export growth over this period resulted in billions of dollars in lost sales and tens of thousands of lost jobs in the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere, NCTO added.

 

“It has been NCTO’s longstanding position that China’s rise in the global textile and apparel market has been substantially aided by illegal and unfair trading practices,” said NCTO President Augustine Tantillo. “These illegal practices distort the global market place and put the entire U.S. manufacturing base at a considerable disadvantage. “We applaud the Obama Administration for today’s decision to hold our international trading competitors to their WTO obligations.”

 

When afforded a level playing field, the U.S. textile and apparel industry can compete with any country in the world, Tantillo added. In 2013, the latest year data was released, the U.S. textile and apparel industry was the third largest exporter of textile and apparel products in the world, exporting nearly $24 billion in goods. The industry is also a significant contributor to the overall U.S. economy, producing more than $70 billion in annual output. Most importantly, the industry remains a major employer in the United States, providing jobs for nearly 500,000 people from fiber production to finished product in 2013. Additionally, for every one direct textile or apparel job, there are three additional jobs supported within the U.S. economy.

 

NCTO encouraged the U.S. to strenuously pursue this matter at the WTO in order to begin the eradication of these illegal trading practices. Doing so will lead to more fair and open competition in the global market, the council said.

 

Read Ambassador Froman’s press release here.

 

Source: NCTO