China talks textiles to US; EU seeks fix

[Eugene]

China talks textiles to US; EU seeks fix
Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:26 AM ET

By Tamora Vidaillet

BEIJING (Reuters) - China struck a positive note on Tuesday about the
chances of a deal with the United States over its surging textile
exports even as the European Union wrestled with proposals to unblock
80 million Chinese garments piling up at EU customs posts.

A wave of textile exports since the abolition of global quotas on Jan. 1
has underlined China's prowess as the world's cheapest mass
manufacturer and sent politicians on both sides of the Atlantic
scrambling to placate endangered domestic producers.

Chinese and U.S. negotiators, who began a fourth round of talks in
Beijing on Tuesday, hope to find enough common ground in time for an
agreement to be blessed when presidents Hu Jintao and George W. Bush
meet in Washington on Sept. 7.

"China hopes both sides will adopt a positive attitude and seek a
solution that will create a stable environment for Sino-American
textile trade," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its
Web site.

Full article: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-08-30T102602Z_01_N30258829_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-TRADE-CHINA-TEXTILES-DC.XML