French minister warns Chinese textile imports menace 7,000 more jobs
French minister warns Chinese textile imports menace 7,000 more jobs
FRENCH MINISTER WARNS CHINESE TEXTILE IMPORTS MENACE 7,000 MORE JOBS
Received Saturday, 23 April 2005 16:48:00 GMT
PARIS, April 23 (AFP) - A surge in textile imports from China following the end of a global quota system could lead to the loss of an extra 7,000 jobs in France this year, a government minister warns in an interview to be published Sunday.
"All the data we have show a very swift rise in imports from China" of textiles since the end of import quotas on January 1, Industry Minister Patrick Devedjian told the Sunday newspaper Le Journal de Dimanche.
European Union customs statistics published Friday by the European Commission "confirm what France feared: falls in price of up to 47 percent for sweaters, and a market share for Chinese products which has doubled in certain categories, such as brassieres and men's underwear," he said.
"It is a very serious situation. It is very serious for our industries which make these products and have been in difficulty for several years," he added.
"The French textile industry, which employs about 100,000 people, was already losing 10 percent of its jobs each year before the end of quotas," Devedjian said.
"According to a study by the French Fashion Institute that could worsen by at least seven percent a year more, that is 7,000 jobs this year," making a total loss of 17,000 jobs in the sector this year, he said.
"We must launch a safeguard procedure to stagger this state of affairs, as the United States have done."
The EU, which had been waiting for up-to-date figures for Chinese textile exports to Europe, may decide to open an inquiry, the first step towards implementing the safeguard clauses allowed by the World Trade Organisation to protect the European market.
The commission will reveal more this weekend on the surge in Chinese textile imports, a spokeswoman said Saturday.
EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, who plans next week to launch the first step in the process which could end in the EU limiting imports, will hold a press conference Sunday, said his spokeswoman.
She declined to give any more details of what Mandelson plans to say Sunday, when he will speak to reporters in Brussels before talks with EU trade ministers at an informal meeting in Luxembourg later in the day.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who is on a vist to China, said Saturday in Shanghai that China was "a responsible actor in the world economy" suggesting it could voluntarily limit textile exports.
FRENCH MINISTER WARNS CHINESE TEXTILE IMPORTS MENACE 7,000 MORE JOBS
Received Saturday, 23 April 2005 16:48:00 GMT
PARIS, April 23 (AFP) - A surge in textile imports from China following the end of a global quota system could lead to the loss of an extra 7,000 jobs in France this year, a government minister warns in an interview to be published Sunday.
"All the data we have show a very swift rise in imports from China" of textiles since the end of import quotas on January 1, Industry Minister Patrick Devedjian told the Sunday newspaper Le Journal de Dimanche.
European Union customs statistics published Friday by the European Commission "confirm what France feared: falls in price of up to 47 percent for sweaters, and a market share for Chinese products which has doubled in certain categories, such as brassieres and men's underwear," he said.
"It is a very serious situation. It is very serious for our industries which make these products and have been in difficulty for several years," he added.
"The French textile industry, which employs about 100,000 people, was already losing 10 percent of its jobs each year before the end of quotas," Devedjian said.
"According to a study by the French Fashion Institute that could worsen by at least seven percent a year more, that is 7,000 jobs this year," making a total loss of 17,000 jobs in the sector this year, he said.
"We must launch a safeguard procedure to stagger this state of affairs, as the United States have done."
The EU, which had been waiting for up-to-date figures for Chinese textile exports to Europe, may decide to open an inquiry, the first step towards implementing the safeguard clauses allowed by the World Trade Organisation to protect the European market.
The commission will reveal more this weekend on the surge in Chinese textile imports, a spokeswoman said Saturday.
EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, who plans next week to launch the first step in the process which could end in the EU limiting imports, will hold a press conference Sunday, said his spokeswoman.
She declined to give any more details of what Mandelson plans to say Sunday, when he will speak to reporters in Brussels before talks with EU trade ministers at an informal meeting in Luxembourg later in the day.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who is on a vist to China, said Saturday in Shanghai that China was "a responsible actor in the world economy" suggesting it could voluntarily limit textile exports.
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