WASHINGTON, Oct 13: The US textile industry is urging the Bush administration to refrain from granting Pakistan broad new access to the US textile market, arguing it would cripple a domestic industry already hit by plant closings and layoffs.

The administration is crafting a $600 million economic assistance package for Pakistan.

According to congressional and industry sources, a component of that package will be an easing of restrictions on Pakistan’s textile exports to the United States.

Those sources expect a US government announcement in coming days.

Carlos Moore, executive vice president of the American Textile Manufacturers Association (ATMI), said on Friday that the administration likely will provide new duty-free entry for hand-knotted and hand-hooked floor coverings from Pakistan.

That provisions, which ATMI says would be worth about $100 million a year, is acceptable to the industry group. ATMI also backs a moratorium on any new textile quotas on Pakistan’s goods.

But since the Sept 11 attacks on the United States, which triggered the US military retribution against Afghanistan, Pakistan has “lobbied hard” for broad US duty-free treatment on textiles, according to Moore.

And that, Moore argued in a telephone interview, would have “enormous impact” on the US textile industry. “Some companies would go out of business,” he added.

Pakistan’s trade minister met with aides for a key House of Representatives trade sub-committee on Thursday to make his country’s case for more favourable treatment.

Moore said US firms producing yarns and fabrics for trousers would be particularly hard-hit by liberalized export rules for Pakistan.

Instead of making textile trade a central component of a Pakistan aid package, Moore said the administration should instead focus on broader measures, such as debt relief.

For several months, US textile interests have been arguing for new trade protections, tax breaks and other forms of federal assistance. The industry says it has been hurt by unfair trading practices among Asian countries and lax enforcement of customs laws.

In a Sept 26 letter to US Commerce Secretary Don Evans, ATMI President Charles Hays said his industry was “experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history” with more than 100 mills closing and 60,000 jobs lost in the past year.

White House officials were not available for comment on Friday on the timing or content of a possible Pakistan aid package.

Congressional sources have said the aid will be “generous.” But they’ve also raised the possibility that some of the breaks granted Pakistan would be temporary.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Monday.

It was unclear whether Powell’s visit might provide the backdrop for the administration’s announcement of the Pakistan aid package.—Reuters