Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, wrote a letter to the commission requesting statistics on Chinese imports of socks, pants and other apparel and textiles after quotas expire Jan. 1.
Chinese imports surged in 2005 when import restrictions expired under World Trade Organization treaties, injuring U.S. and Latin American companies, Rangel noted.
"I am concerned that a market-disrupting surge in textile and apparel imports from China could occur," he wrote in his letter.
Seventy-three House members, mainly from the South, asked the White House last month to extend the Textile Monitoring Program to China on clothing and textile imports. The Bush administration hasn't responded yet.
Reps. Bob Inglis, R-Travelers Rest, and Gresham Barrett, R-Westminster, signed the letter.
"Obviously, we are worried," said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which supports fair trade. "At the very least, we need to monitor China's export actions to the U.S. in 2009 to determine whether or not we're going to confront a massive surge."
In 2005, the U.S. lost more than 54,000 jobs when quotas were lifted and Chinese imports of clothing and textiles ballooned, he said. China cut prices by 40 percent to gain market share, and the U.S. responded by re-instituting some quotas, he said.
Gathering import data quickly is vital to determine whether China illegally dumps textiles and clothing on the U.S. market below cost or unfairly uses government subsidies, Tantillo said.
"China has a long history of running roughshod over the U.S. market," he said. "At the very least, let's be on high alert ... so that we can respond in a fairly accelerated fashion if need be."
