BRUSSELS, Belgium_European retailers are to blame for exceeding the quota on cheap Chinese trousers by allowing too many shipments ahead of a cut-off date, the European Union's trade chief said Tuesday.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said imports of Chinese-made trousers reached their annual quota limit on Monday.
"The problem has been caused by importers trying to beat the restrictions after the Shanghai Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 10," Mandelson said. "The sheer scale of their attempt to beat the restrictions has presented us with immense difficulties."
Tuesday's announcement on trouser imports came after the EU head office halted imports of Chinese sweaters on July 12, after it became clear they had already exceeded a 2005 quota of 181.5 million.
Mandelson said, however, that shipments that left China before July 11 are being allowed into Europe _ but final decisions on future trade will not be made until early September.
EU trade experts are still in talks with Beijing over how to deal with the influx of textile imports. Mandelson said he would be talking to his Chinese trade counterpart Bo Xilai this week.
The European Commission is asking all EU governments to submit the latest data on Chinese textile imports by next week, so the EU head office can draw a better analysis of what impact the cheap imports are having.
China promised to limit its rapidly growing textile trade with Europe after both the EU and the United States complained that imports of cheap Chinese textiles _ soaring since a global quota system ended Jan. 1 _ were threatening their own producers.
The 25-nation EU and China agreed in June to limit Chinese exports of men's trousers to 104 million for the rest of 2005 as well as imports of other goods like sweaters.
The agreement was meant to cool calls for a trade war between the trading partners as European textile producers warned that imports from China would destroy their industry.
But as a result, retailers rushed in last-minute orders to China, to fill their stores with cheap fall and winter collections, meaning the quota was filled within less than two months of the deal.
Big European retailers have lobbied hard against trade action leading to curbs in Chinese textiles, arguing that they and consumers would pay more for clothing if the imports are not allowed to enter the EU freely.
AP Online
