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China scraps export tariffs on 81 textile products
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-05-30 20:27

China announced Monday it would no longer impose export tariffs on 81 categories of textile products as of June 1, 2005.

Commerce Minister Bo Xilai gestures as he speaks to the media during a press conference in Beijing Monday, May 30, 2005. Bo on Monday accused the United States and Europe of violating World Trade Organization rules by imposing import quotas on Chinese textiles without providing adequate information to back up claims they were disrupting markets. [AP]
A previous decision to quintuple the export tariffs on 74 textile categories, on which export tariffs were imposed from Jan.1 this year, was revoked, according to sources from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, China's cabinet.

The export tariff on flax yarn will also be abolished, the Commission said.

"If some countries have imposed restrictive measures upon China's textile goods, then China needs to revoke export tariffs on these goods, because the country cannot make its textile export shoulder double pressures," said Chinese Minister of Commerce Monday afternoon at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office.

"Since the United States and European Union (EU) side have imposed quantitative restrictions China-originated textile goods, how can the Chinese government continue to impose export tariffs?"Bo said. The Chinese government must treat their enterprises fairly, he added.

Monday's decision was announced in the wake of EU decision to impose quotas on imports of Chinese textiles, as well as US decision to re-impose restrictions on seven kinds of Chinese textile and clothing imports recently.

On Jan. 1, 2005, when the global textile quotas were eliminated,China voluntarily imposed export tariffs on some textile goods so as to limit its export growth. On May 20, China again decided to raise the export tariffs on 74 categories of textile products, with a 400-percent hike for most of the products.

The United States and the European Union, disregarding these voluntary measures taken by China however, still imposed strict restrictive measures on textile import from China since the beginning of this year.

"If developed countries had eliminated their textile quota restrictions step by step, the surge of Chinese textile exports to their markets this year would be avoided," said Bo Xilai.

The United States and the European Union remained most of their quota restrictions on competitive textile products from developing countries to the last minutes, which led to the rapid growth of Chinese textile exports immediately after the global quotas were canceled, he said.

The decision just made by the Chinese government to revoke textile export tariffs is "wise," Zhang Yansheng, director of the Foreign Economy Institute of the State Development and Reform Commission told Xinhua.

Export tariff levy is a kind of voluntary measure taken by the government to limit export, and it is reasonable for the country to raise or revoke export tariffs under different circumstances, Zhang said.

"The abolishment of textile export tariffs shows the Chinese government fully understands the enormous difficulty faced by Chinese enterprises," Zhang said.

China's textile industry welcomes and supports the tariff abolishment, said Sun Huaibin, spokesman for the China Textile Industry Council.

"This shows the textile trade disputes between China and the United States and the European Union have not been solved, and will probably continue for the future three to eight years," he told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

The tariff abolishment reduces the export cost of Chinese enterprises to some extent, but the key obstacle blocking China's textile export is the unreasonable restrictions imposed by the United States and the European Union, said General Manager Zhong Zhijie of the Baimei Apparel Company in eastern Zhejiang Province.

To face the new challenge, the country's textile sector should readjust their export strategies and introduce more advanced technology to increase the added value of their products, Sun Huaibin said.



 
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