BEIJING, Sept 5: A “fair and equitable” deal was signed Monday to end a costly EU-China impasse that left millions of Chinese-made garments blocked at European ports and strained relations, top officials said.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai had agreed on “an equitable way to share the burden of unlicensed goods blocked in our ports,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
“Once again, we have shown that it is possible, when there is real goodwill, to achieve the objectives and priorities to solve all issues between China and the European Union,” he told a press conference.
Under the agreement, the EU and China will share the burden caused by the stockpiles at EU ports of goods which exceed China’s textile export quota, a diplomat said in Brussels.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said that half of the estimated 80 million products being held up would enter the EU, while the other half would be added to China’s 2006 textile quota.
Garments such as sweaters (pullovers), which far exceed the quota numbers, would be shifted onto other categories of products, in which the quotas have yet to be filled.
Mandelson and Bo refused to go into the details of the accord.
While about five EU states, including Italy, Spain and Portugal, have previously baulked at allowing the products into the bloc, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he was confident the deal would work for all concerned.
“The agreement that they will sign is fair and equitable to both sides and beneficial to the business community and consumers,” he said.
Representatives of the EU’s 25 member states were meeting in Brussels to discuss the deal.
Millions of Chinese items — including sweaters, trousers, blouses, T-shirts, bras and tonnes of flax yarn — are impounded at European ports because they exceed import quotas agreed by both sides in June.
That deal, in which both sides agreed to curb the growth in imports of 10 kinds of Chinese textile and clothing products to between eight and 12.5 per cent per year until the end of 2008, narrowly avoided a trade war.
The backlog stems from goods that were already in transit when the accord was struck and also from a surge in orders immediately after the deal was announced. The agreement on the 10 categories came into effect on July 12.
Negotiations between Mandelson and Bo to settle the standoff started in Beijing on Sunday, a day ahead of the EU-China summit here, and continued through the night. The deal was finally signed Monday evening.
“China and Europe are not at war and will not be at war,” said Mandelson.
Wen added that the dispute should only be seen as a temporary blip in relations.
“It should never pose any negative impact on the very sound, very steady and fast-growing commercial links between China and the EU,” he said.
British Prime Minister attending the summit as part of his country’s turn at the rotating EU presidency, said trade disagreements were bound to happen but should be resolved quickly.—AFP
