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Copyright 2005 The Financial Times Limited
Financial Times (London, England)
September 6, 2005 Tuesday
Europe Edition 1
SECTION: FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 536 words
HEADLINE: China-EU near import deal
BYLINE: By BEN HALL and GEORGE PARKER
DATELINE: BEIJING and BRUSSELS
BODY:
* Half impounded garments to be waved through
* Decision marks softening of Beijing's stance
* Member states still to approve agreement
China and the European Commission yesterday struck an eleventh-hour agreement to end their dispute about imports of cheap Chinese textiles, but EU member states have yet to approve it.
After marathon talks in Beijing stretching into the early hours of Monday morning, Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, and Bo Xilai, his Chinese counterpart, agreed to release Chinese garments impounded at Europe's ports "as soon as possible".
Mr Mandelson said the two sides had agreed to "sensible, reasonable, burden-sharing" regarding the fate of 77m
Chinese sweaters, trousers and bras impounded at the EU's borders.
The Commission proposes to wave through half of the impounded garments. China accepted that the rest would be deducted either from its 2006 textile quota, or switched to other unfilled-quota categories.
The decision marked a softening of China's stance. Trade officials from the EU's 25 member states will today consider whether it goes far enough.
Mr Mandelson hopes the agreement will be approved by EU textile producing countries such as France, Spain and Italy, even though it means allowing into the shops 38m unlicensed Chinese garments, ordered by retailers "in good faith" but which fell foul of quotas agreed on June 10.
The EU has already allowed in 135m Chinese pullovers given import licences in a frenetic period between June 10 and July 12, when the new quotas came into force. The agreed pullover quota for 2005 was 69m.
The textile dispute overshadowed an EU-China summit in Beijing, where Tony Blair, who holds the rotating EU presidency, argued the west should welcome China's economic rise.
After talks with Hu Jintao, China's president, and Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, Mr Blair said further trade liberalisation was inevitable and that Europe should see China's booming economy as an opportunity not a threat.
"There is, of course, a case for managing change," the prime minister said. "What there is not a case for is resisting change."
Mr Blair and his Chinese counterparts characterised the textiles dispute as a minor irritant in a flourishing EU-China relationship.
But it reflects Europe's difficulty in developing deeper political ties with the emerging superpower, notwithstanding an agreement to co-operate more closely on climate change reached yesterday.
Mr Mandelson, who resisted reintroduction of quotas on China in June, said that this time the EU needed to take greater care in managing the textile quotas and would have to step up contact with importers and producers. The measures were aimed at "smoothing a transition to a period when there are no quotas at all".
Sir Digby Jones, director general of UK employers organisation the CBI, said borrowing from next year's quota to satisfy consumer demand was no long-term solution.
"The real answer is to allow access to the EU for goods produced in China and for EU producers to adapt to the competitive challenge," he said.
"Quotas, agreed or otherwise, are not the way for the developed world to deal with globalisation." Streamlining China's industry, Page 5 Editorial Comment, Page 13 Lex, Page 16
LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2005
Financial Times (London, England)
September 6, 2005 Tuesday
Europe Edition 1
SECTION: FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 536 words
HEADLINE: China-EU near import deal
BYLINE: By BEN HALL and GEORGE PARKER
DATELINE: BEIJING and BRUSSELS
BODY:
* Half impounded garments to be waved through
* Decision marks softening of Beijing's stance
* Member states still to approve agreement
China and the European Commission yesterday struck an eleventh-hour agreement to end their dispute about imports of cheap Chinese textiles, but EU member states have yet to approve it.
After marathon talks in Beijing stretching into the early hours of Monday morning, Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, and Bo Xilai, his Chinese counterpart, agreed to release Chinese garments impounded at Europe's ports "as soon as possible".
Mr Mandelson said the two sides had agreed to "sensible, reasonable, burden-sharing" regarding the fate of 77m
Chinese sweaters, trousers and bras impounded at the EU's borders.
The Commission proposes to wave through half of the impounded garments. China accepted that the rest would be deducted either from its 2006 textile quota, or switched to other unfilled-quota categories.
The decision marked a softening of China's stance. Trade officials from the EU's 25 member states will today consider whether it goes far enough.
Mr Mandelson hopes the agreement will be approved by EU textile producing countries such as France, Spain and Italy, even though it means allowing into the shops 38m unlicensed Chinese garments, ordered by retailers "in good faith" but which fell foul of quotas agreed on June 10.
The EU has already allowed in 135m Chinese pullovers given import licences in a frenetic period between June 10 and July 12, when the new quotas came into force. The agreed pullover quota for 2005 was 69m.
The textile dispute overshadowed an EU-China summit in Beijing, where Tony Blair, who holds the rotating EU presidency, argued the west should welcome China's economic rise.
After talks with Hu Jintao, China's president, and Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, Mr Blair said further trade liberalisation was inevitable and that Europe should see China's booming economy as an opportunity not a threat.
"There is, of course, a case for managing change," the prime minister said. "What there is not a case for is resisting change."
Mr Blair and his Chinese counterparts characterised the textiles dispute as a minor irritant in a flourishing EU-China relationship.
But it reflects Europe's difficulty in developing deeper political ties with the emerging superpower, notwithstanding an agreement to co-operate more closely on climate change reached yesterday.
Mr Mandelson, who resisted reintroduction of quotas on China in June, said that this time the EU needed to take greater care in managing the textile quotas and would have to step up contact with importers and producers. The measures were aimed at "smoothing a transition to a period when there are no quotas at all".
Sir Digby Jones, director general of UK employers organisation the CBI, said borrowing from next year's quota to satisfy consumer demand was no long-term solution.
"The real answer is to allow access to the EU for goods produced in China and for EU producers to adapt to the competitive challenge," he said.
"Quotas, agreed or otherwise, are not the way for the developed world to deal with globalisation." Streamlining China's industry, Page 5 Editorial Comment, Page 13 Lex, Page 16
LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2005
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