Brussels, 04/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, Gesamttextil, the German textile industry association launched an appeal for, "the de-escalation of the transatlantic steel dispute" that is impacting on the textile industry. It points out that as well as the European Commission's introduction of protective measures against certain textile products, "further punitive duties which are, above all, to hit the USA's textile and clothing exports" are valued at EUR 2.4 billion. Gesamttextil is demanding that the US government and the European Commission to, "not draw the uninvolved-in-the-conflict textile industry into the transatlantic quarrel concerning the steel sector". According to Gesamttextil, "apart from the danger of breaching WTO law, a protectionist spiral could be set in motion". The association points out that the US are major buyers of an export-oriented German textile industry and is afraid that possible US retaliation could cause a fall in exports and the destruction of a relationship that has been laboriously build up on the other side of the Atlantic. Gesamttextil declared that, "Why the EU-Commission chose the textile industry out of all industries as focal sector for the retaliation remains unclear".