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Industry welcomes tariffs removal
30/5/2005 19:34

China's Textile Industry Council says it supports the government's decision to withdraw export tariffs on 81 categories of textile products from June 1.

The State Council's Customs Tariff Commission announced Monday that it is revoking the five-fold increase in export tariffs it imposed on 74 categories of textiles from Jan.1 this year. Export tariffs on flax yarn will also be abolished.

A spokesman for the industry council, Sun Huaibin, said the textile trade dispute between China, the United States, and the European Union would probably continue for between three and eight years.

He said China was making an effort to ease the tension by raising export tariffs on the 74 textile products. But the United States and the European Union doubted China's sincerity and stuck to their restrictions.

He added that China's efforts alone cannot establish a new world textile trade order.

To face the new challenges, he suggests the country's textile manufactures should readjust their export strategies and introduce more advanced technology to increase the added value of their products.

The textile industry is asked to diversify its export market and increase investment in less developed countries to reduce risks and boost international cooperation.

Earlier at a news conference, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said China will lose 2 billion dollars this year due to the new US restrictions on its textile products.

He added that the US limits also jeopardize the jobs of up to 160, 000 people and the proposed European Union restrictions would affect China's textile exports by more than 300 million US dollars.

So far, the US has slapped import quotas on seven categories of Chinese textile goods. The EU has sought formal talks with Beijing over exports of flax yarn and t-shirts, bringing it a step closer to imposing limits if a deal is not reached.

The European Union may re-impose quotas on imports of Chinese textiles if an agreement is not reached in the next two weeks.



 Source; CRIENGLISH.com