A coalition of textile industry groups is filing a wave of safeguard petitions in an effort to keep a lid on Chinese imports after the 148 nations of the World Trade Organization drop their quotas on textiles and apparel next year. The safeguard mechanism, agreed upon by China when it joined the WTO in 2001, allows importing nations to impose renewable one-year quotas on specific categories of Chinese goods if they find the imports are causing or threatening to cause market disruption. So far, the group, which includes the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, National Council of Textile Organizations, National Cotton Council, SEAMS, American Fiber Manufacturers Association and UNITE HERE, has filed seven safeguard petitions and plans to submit six more. Overall, it’s targeting $1.96 billion in imports in 21 categories, arguing that the Bush administration must do something to protect the remaining 695,800 U.S. garment and fabric production jobs. The U.S. on Friday approved for review the coalition’s first petition, which covered cotton trousers. A separate coalition had its petition approved last month to impose safeguard quotas in Chinese socks, which became effective Friday. A 7.5 percent growth cap will stay in place for a year, unless the U.S. and China negotiate a different level. Below, a look at China’s imports in the 12 categories on which the textile coalition has sought safeguards.
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| PRODUCT | QUOTA LIMIT | USAGE TO DATE |
| Mens’ and boys’ woven shirts | 870,370 dozen | 87.4 percent |
| Man-made fiber knit shirts | 2.7 million dozen | 84.2 percent |
| Cotton sheets | 5.2 million units | 81.1 percent |
| Cotton knit shirts | 2.5 million dozen | 80.6 percent |
| Women’s and girls’ woven shirts | 1.5 million dozen | 78.8 percent |
| Man-made fiber underwear | 3.5 million dozen | 77.7 percent |
| Cotton underwear | 1.7 million dozen | 77.6 percent |
| Cotton yarn | 2.7 million kilograms | 76.5 percent |
| Women’s and girls’ man-made fiber trousers | 1.2 million dozen | 76.2 percent |
| Men’s and boys’ man-made fiber trousers | 1.7 million dozen | 74.8 percent |
| Wool trousers | 76,352 dozen | 66.8 percent |
| Cotton trousers | 2.4 million dozen | 64.8 percent |
SOURCE: U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION TEXTILE STATUS REPORT