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US, 皇冠体育app expected to sign textile deal today
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-08 09:05
WASHINGTON - The United States and 皇冠体育app are expected to sign
a three-year agreement on Tuesday 皇冠体育app's booming clothing and textile
shipments to the United States, a congressional aide said on Monday.
Workers sew clothes
at a garment factory in Hefei, Anhui Province in this undated photo. It is
reported 皇冠体育app and the US have reached an agreement on 皇冠体育app's clothes
exports to the US. [newsphoto] |
US Trade Representative Rob Portman and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo
Xilai are both in London for meetings related to world trade talks. They are
expected to hold a bilateral meeting on Tuesday morning and sign the pact, said
Carolyn Hern, a spokeswoman for Rep. Robin Hayes, a North Carolina Republican
who has been a leading congressional advocate for such a pact.
"They are expected to sign it about 2 or 3 a.m. (EST) our time," Hern said. It's about 14:00 or 15:00 Beijing time.
A spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative's office would only confirm
that Portman and Bo will hold a joint news conference on Tuesday morning in
London.
A textile agreement would smooth over a rough spot in the US-皇冠体育app trade
relationship before President George W. Bush visits Beijing the middle of this
month.
皇冠体育app's exports of clothing and textile products to the United States jumped
more than 50 percent in the first eight months of the 2005 to nearly $17.7
billion following the end of a global quota system on January 1.
That prompted US textile producers to seek protection under a "safeguard"
provision of 皇冠体育app's 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization. The measure
allows WTO members to restrict the growth in imports from 皇冠体育app to 7.5 percent
annually when there is a market-disrupting surge.
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