WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Kuwaiti governments have signed a memorandum of understanding establishing quotas for certain textile and apparel imports from Kuwait, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said Wednesday.
A USTR spokeswoman would not say which categories are covered or the limits of goods that will be allowed into the U.S. The information will be published in the Federal Register soon, she said.
The talks came after U.S. Customs Service inspectors found sizable amounts of transshipped goods during visits to 10 factories in Kuwait last November. Kuwait, which was virtually destroyed in a 1990 invasion by Iraq and the subsequent Persian Gulf War, has been exporting many more women’s and men’s cotton shirts in the last year than it is believed to have the capacity to produce.
The Kuwaitis were “very cooperative” during the negotiations held in Washington Monday and Tuesday, the USTR spokeswoman said. Industry sources said negotiators usually meet at least twice before agreeing upon quota levels; this was the first official session with Kuwait.
Quotas likely will be imposed on women’s and men’s cotton woven shirts, which are by far Kuwait’s largest apparel exports to the U.S., according to an import analyst who did not want to be identified.