US retailers react to White House decision on Vietnamese textile
Source: CCPIT TEX Date: 2006-10-08
It is reported by the White House deal with textile-state Republicans has angered US retailers.
“We are extremely angry. We feel like we have been sold out on this," said Erik Autor, vice president and international trade counsel for the National Retail Federation.
The Bush administration promised Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina last week it would closely monitor textile and clothing imports from Vietnam after that country joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the United States is required to drop import quotas, according to sources from the US-Vietnam Trade Council.
Brad Figel, global government and public affairs director for Nike , said importers were "stunned and surprised" last week when they learned of the deal.
“I think the administration failed to realise the future chilling effect the agreement would have,” Figel said.
Nike had hoped to expand business in Vietnam . However, it now faces the prospect that any clothing it buys there will be slapped with anti-dumping duties under cases "self-initiated" by the Bush administration, Figel said.
Meanwhile, Steve Norton, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, acknowledged concerns raised by the deal and said the Bush administration would work with "all relevant parties to design an effective, fair and transparent monitoring system."
The US import industry officials argue that the deal itself runs foul of WTO rules since the Bush administration would potentially be filing anti-dumping cases on behalf of domestic yarn and fabric producers who don't have the legal standing to file cases themselves.
