Brussels, 18/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Following the decisions taken by Washington and then Brussels with regard to Chinese textiles - Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson announced on Tuesday that he would launch formal consultations with the Chinese authorities in the WTO for two categories of textile products (EUROPE 8948) - to limit imports of come Chinese textile products, China is now up in arms about measures it considers to be “protectionist” and “unfair”. “Under WTO rules it is not permitted to use a two-speed policy. The limitations decided on by Washington and those planned by Brussels undermine the solidarity of WTO rules and have a negative impact on the Doha cycle of negotiations”, declared the Chinese Trade Minister Bo Xilai on the occasion of the Fortune Global Forum which is taking place this week in the Chinese capital.
The reaction of Beijing has in no way weakened the resolve of the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, who warned on Wednesday morning on EUROPE 1 that EU was “prepared to go further” to protect itself against Chinese textile imports. “We are seriously concerned by the situation. (…) In the coming weeks there will be new decisions if there is no constructive attitude on the part of the Chinese”, maintained the Commission President, adding: “I hope that there will be equally determined measures on the Chinese side, otherwise we will have to take even firmer measures”. Mr Barroso also said he had sent a “very firm letter” to the Chinese President Hu Jintao to ask him to take effective measures to compensate for the market distortions caused by the explosion of Chinese exports since quotas were lifted on 1 January. In the view of the Commission President, the measures announced by Mr Mandelson are a “very clear signal” to the Chinese, and are “sufficient for the moment”. Mr Barroso believes in fact that the EU should act “with a certain sense of balance”, because it is “essential” for growth and employment in Europe to ensure that “the Chinese market is open to exports” from the Community. To those who have reproached the Commission for wanting to avoid at all costs a deterioration in EU trade relations with China, Mr Barroso responded by denying that he was seeking to handle the Chinese authorities with kid gloves.
Although they welcomed the Commission's initiative, the Member States which are the main producers of textiles, notably France, still think it is not enough. The French Industry Minister Patrick Devedjian, who is currently in Beijing to discuss possible solutions with his Chinese counterpart - both under the WTO and bilaterally - to this thorny dossier, expressed surprise that only two categories of products are covered by the measures announced by Mr Mandelson. “It doesn't seem to me to be very much, and naturally I consider the procedure used by the Commissioner is rather slow, even though we are in the legal situation provided for by the WTO”, he declared. The Italian Minister for Productive Activities, Claudio Scajola, has written to Peter Mandelson saying that Italy is one of the EU countries most affected by “this abnormal wave” of Chinese textile products, and calling for “an industrial plan with sufficient resources to give credibility and new momentum to the textile industry in Europe”.
Elsewhere, the Foreign Trade Association the FTA, denounced the emergency measures announced by the European Commission: “the statistics reveal that there is no disruption on the European market and the market is far from being in a critical situation”, stressed the Secretary General of the FTA, Jan Eggert, in a communication. “If you analyse the imports (of textile products from China) overall, it is clear that there has been no flood”, he maintained. “Although we understand that Mr Mandelson is under considerable pressure from some parts of industry and some Member States, we deplore the fact that he deemed it necessary to introduce emergency measures against China. The impact could be disastrous for our members”, added Mr Eggert.