China scraps export tariffs on 81 textile categories
BEIJING, May 30: China will abolish export tariffs on 81 categories of textile products, while scheduled tariff increases on 74 categories of textiles will also be scraped, the ministry of finance said Monday. The decision will go into effect on June 1, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
“On June 1, 2005, export tariffs on 81 categories of textiles will be cancelled,” it said. The products include flax yarn and T-shirts which are at the centre of a request from the European Union for formal talks with Beijing.
They also include men’s suits, cotton men’s and women’s trousers, men’s cotton and silk shirts and men’s cotton underwear. To appease concerns by the EU and the United States about booming Chinese textile exports, China on May 20 said it would raise export tariffs on 74 categories of textile products from June 1.
But these have now also been abandoned, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, China’s commerce minister on Monday accused the United States and Europe of violating World Trade Organization rules by imposing import quotas on Chinese textiles without providing adequate information to back up claims they were disrupting markets.
Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said Washington and the European Union failed to prove that Chinese imports disrupted their markets and didn’t provide Beijing with adequate information. The two governments took steps to restrain Chinese textiles imports that surged after a worldwide quota system expired on Jan 1. They said China’s membership agreement with the WTO allowed such measures in order to prevent market disruption.
“In our opinion, this move lacks legal grounding and therefore is incorrect,” Bo Xilai said at a news conference. “The United States and the European Union have not provided adequate data. That is unreasonable and unscientific.” —AFP/APP
