LexisNexis(TM) Academic - Document
Financial Times (London, England)
August 26, 2005 Friday
London Edition 1
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 474 words
HEADLINE: EU and China renew talks in bid to end dispute
BYLINE: By TOBIAS BUCK, LESLIE CRAWFORD, RICHARD MCGREGOR and GEORGE PARKER
DATELINE: BEIJING, BRUSSELS and MADRID
BODY:
Chinese and European Union trade officials will today attempt in a second round of talks to settle an embarrassing dispute over stockpiles of Chinese clothing impounded in Europe for exceeding quotas set by the two sides this year.
The emergency talks, which opened in Beijing yesterday, centre on an EU proposal for the sides to juggle the different clothing quotas to allow the core of the original agreement to stand, while releasing the stockpiled goods to the retailers who had ordered them.
A solution could be based on a mixture of adding some stockpiled goods to the quotas agreed in the bilateral deal signed in June, and by transferring some to next year's quotas, a Commission official said yesterday.
The Chinese government has made no public comment on its negotiating position, but the state-controlled media have demanded an end to the quotas, which were re-introduced after curbs were abolished in January as part of long-agreed trade liberalisation. "The EU kicked up a pile of stones and has ended up hurting its own feet," said the Shanghai-based International Finance News.
Seven out of the 10 categories of textiles covered by the agreement have been filled - dresses yesterday became the latest product to be stockpiled. China may argue that the quotas themselves must be enlarged to accommodate the surge in imports, because increasing next year's quotas alone will not be enough, a Chinese official said last night.
Despite concerns over the impact of EU restrictions on Chinese textiles imports, there was still a solid majority among member states in favour of retaining the quota regime, diplomats and officials in Brussels said. Officials from several EU countries supported the position of Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, who insisted on Wednesday that "the agreement stands".
"We are willing to find a specific solution for the Chinese garments that are piling up in European ports, but we think the agreement signed with China is still valid and should not be altered," said a representative of the industry and commerce ministry of Spain, whose textile industry employs 226,000 people.
At a meeting of national trade officials this week, only Denmark was willing to accept a solution outside the June 10 deal that introduced the quotas, one official said.
The 24 other countries, including Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, made clear they wanted the deal negotiated by Peter Mandelson to remain in place. But a solution had to be found to release the millions of sweaters, trousers and other Chinese textiles imports stockpiled across Europe. A diplomat from Britain, holder of the rotating EU presidency, said: "As the presidency of the EU, the UK of course supports the agreement reached by member states."
Richard McGregor in Beijing, Tobias Buck, George Parker in Brussels and Leslie Crawford in Madrid
LOAD-DATE: August 25, 2005
August 26, 2005 Friday
London Edition 1
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 474 words
HEADLINE: EU and China renew talks in bid to end dispute
BYLINE: By TOBIAS BUCK, LESLIE CRAWFORD, RICHARD MCGREGOR and GEORGE PARKER
DATELINE: BEIJING, BRUSSELS and MADRID
BODY:
Chinese and European Union trade officials will today attempt in a second round of talks to settle an embarrassing dispute over stockpiles of Chinese clothing impounded in Europe for exceeding quotas set by the two sides this year.
The emergency talks, which opened in Beijing yesterday, centre on an EU proposal for the sides to juggle the different clothing quotas to allow the core of the original agreement to stand, while releasing the stockpiled goods to the retailers who had ordered them.
A solution could be based on a mixture of adding some stockpiled goods to the quotas agreed in the bilateral deal signed in June, and by transferring some to next year's quotas, a Commission official said yesterday.
The Chinese government has made no public comment on its negotiating position, but the state-controlled media have demanded an end to the quotas, which were re-introduced after curbs were abolished in January as part of long-agreed trade liberalisation. "The EU kicked up a pile of stones and has ended up hurting its own feet," said the Shanghai-based International Finance News.
Seven out of the 10 categories of textiles covered by the agreement have been filled - dresses yesterday became the latest product to be stockpiled. China may argue that the quotas themselves must be enlarged to accommodate the surge in imports, because increasing next year's quotas alone will not be enough, a Chinese official said last night.
Despite concerns over the impact of EU restrictions on Chinese textiles imports, there was still a solid majority among member states in favour of retaining the quota regime, diplomats and officials in Brussels said. Officials from several EU countries supported the position of Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, who insisted on Wednesday that "the agreement stands".
"We are willing to find a specific solution for the Chinese garments that are piling up in European ports, but we think the agreement signed with China is still valid and should not be altered," said a representative of the industry and commerce ministry of Spain, whose textile industry employs 226,000 people.
At a meeting of national trade officials this week, only Denmark was willing to accept a solution outside the June 10 deal that introduced the quotas, one official said.
The 24 other countries, including Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, made clear they wanted the deal negotiated by Peter Mandelson to remain in place. But a solution had to be found to release the millions of sweaters, trousers and other Chinese textiles imports stockpiled across Europe. A diplomat from Britain, holder of the rotating EU presidency, said: "As the presidency of the EU, the UK of course supports the agreement reached by member states."
Richard McGregor in Beijing, Tobias Buck, George Parker in Brussels and Leslie Crawford in Madrid
LOAD-DATE: August 25, 2005
posted by Eastlaw at 11:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home