US anti-dumping inquiries may disturb bilateral trade

12 Dec '06

1 min read

US Government is making efforts to replace the present quota system applicable on Vietnamese garments with anti-dumping inquiries if the country does not do away with subsidies prohibited under WTO negotiations.

This is prejudice towards local apparel since American garment merchants will refrain from enhancing business in the country and new investment opportunities will decline for apparel sector, if they face so many problems, conveyed Brenda Jacobs, Legal Advisor for US Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA).

Bilateral Textile Agreement called 'Market Access Agreement – Textiles and Apparel Sector' is applicable till the date of Vietnam's accession to WTO, on which agreement quotas will be cancelled.

Country had accepted a specific monitoring and enforcement mechanism under this agreement. Mechanism enables US to reapply quotas on Vietnam if it fails to keep commitments to cancel WTO-prohibited subsidies for textile and garment industries.

As per international trade rules, producers must provide fair competition upon WTO accession. Brenda added that the accession could adversely affect bilateral relations with US and also local apparel industry.

Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director of Quota Management, Ministry of Trade, asked companies not to ship goods to US if the Ministry has not assigned quotas to these goods.

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