The glorious victory of
Barak Obama in the US presidential election is resonating all across the globe.
How much would his pro-activeness benefit the textile and apparel industries of
US? What is in the offing for the Chinese imports into US?
People all around the world would
have watched in awe; as Barack Obama was sworn as the 44th President
of the US. And for the textile and apparel industries in US, this would be an
unprecedented period of protectionist stance against foreign clothing suppliers
such as China. It is being assumed that the new Government is going to focus on
the economic issues, and help the world to come out of recession. It is also
assumed that textile and apparel issues would not top the list for a limited
time.
During the past years when US was
more dependent on textiles and agriculture, textiles were subjected to a
special regime. Obama's trade policy insists on opening markets abroad for
manufactured exports along with enforceable labor and environmental standards
in free trade agreements. This would result in a decrease in the free textile
trade which was transferring more jobs abroad.
Obama's
Textile Policy Stance:
In a letter sent to the National
Council of Textile Organizations, Obama has expressed his views about the issues
facing the textile and apparel industries in US. He has articulated his
intention to change the economic policies that had been pursued in the country
for the past eight years, and adopt policies that would put the needs of the
middle class first.
He has expressed his willingness
to take initiatives to curtail the currency manipulation by the Chinese to
increase exports and daunt the imports. Obama has also assured to impose a
programme to monitor the textile, and apparel imports from China, once the safeguards are removed, and increase the funds and enforcements of policies
regarding unfair trade practices. In the letter Obama states, "A fair
trading system requires fairness in each countrys foreign exchange practices.
The massive current account surpluses accumulated by China are directly related
to its manipulation of its currencys value. The result is a large imbalance
that is not good for the United States, not good for the global economy, and
likely to create problems in China itself. China must change its policies,
including its foreign exchange policies, so that it relies less on exports and
more on domestic demand for its growth. That is why I have said that I will use
all diplomatic means at my disposal to induce China to make these changes."
(Source: http://en.wikisource.org)
Earlier, the Bush reign demanded China to increase the value of its currency, with feeble success. But it did not declare China as a 'currency manipulator'. The textile and apparel producers of US have requested
the Bush administration to impose a monitoring program against the import surge
of Chinese textiles at the expiry of quotas, but were denied. Now, Obama has
given an implication that he would impose emergency restrictions against the
import surge of Chinese goods.
Possibilities exist that Obama might
adopt a tougher stance toward China regarding textile and apparel trade. China's
role in the global trade may disseminate protectionist feeling in US, and the
reign of Obama may show pragmatism is dealing with China, enabling a quick
return to economic growth, rather than damaging the US-China trade relations. Overall,
industry analysts positively assert that, the country is in a good position to
deal with the global trade regime under Obama's leadership.
References:
1) 'Barack Obama's Letter to the National Council of Textile
Organizations', http://en.wikisource.org
2) http://www.ontheissues.org
3) http://www.3plwire.com/
