An another development, online bidding for next year’s quotas set by the European Union started yesterday; the process is set to last till Friday. Cao Xinyu, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said enterprises were carefully analyzing prices and prospects as they bid for 18 per cent of next year’s quotas.

In addition, US industry associations last week filed new petitions to their government for curbs on cheesecloth, men’s and boys’ wool suits, polyester filament fabric and some man-made fibre coat imports from China. However, the US Government earlier twice postponed decisions on safeguard measures on several categories to leave more room for bilateral consultation.

Although Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said when China reached a new textile agreement with the European Union earlier this month that the Sino-US textile trade disagreement would soon be resolved, neither side seems optimistic about the outcome of talks which began Monday (local time) in Washington.

China would stick to its principles in the negotiation, Cao Xinyu, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles, said in Beijing before the talks. The US industry described the attitude as “intransigence.” China and the United States were slated to end the talks last night. Negotiations were jointly headed by Lu Jianhua, foreign trade director with the Ministry of Commerce, and David Spooner, Washington’s chief textile negotiator. The previous four rounds of Sino-US consultations failed to break the deadlock, leaving “some substantial differences” unsettled.

Source: ChinaView