[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 67 (Thursday, May 19, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CHINA SAFEGUARD IMPLEMENTATION

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and commend 
President Bush and the Committee on Implementation of Textile 
Agreements for recently implementing safeguards against Chinese imports 
of cotton shirts, cotton trousers, and cotton and man-made fiber 
underwear. Since the lifting of quotas by the WTO in January, shorts, 
trousers, and underwear, which represent more textile jobs than any 
other sector in America, have been under attack due to the flood of 
Chinese imports currently coming into our country. This fast action 
will save thousands of textile jobs in this country and in my district.
  However, Mr. Speaker, I was disheartened to hear the comments on the 
safeguard sanctions made by the spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of 
Commerce. He said in a statement that China believes its exports of 
cotton knit shirts, trousers, and man-made underwear have not disrupted 
the U.S. market. I think a 1,573 percent increase and a 1,277 percent 
increase in the first 3 months of this year constitute a market 
disruption. Let me repeat, those numbers are for the first 3 months of 
the year. Think what would happen if we did not implement the China 
safeguards.
  The Ministry of Commerce went on to say, The U.S. decision runs 
counter to the World Trade Organization's agreements on trade of 
textile and apparel products and deviates from the WTO spirit of free 
trade.
  I took specific note of this statement because China's idea of fair 
trade is government subsidies of its textile and apparel exports to the 
United States, currency manipulation, export tax rebates, forgiveness 
of loans by its government banks, and direct payments to its State-
owned textile and apparel industry. Fortunately, the rest of the world 
does not think like the Chinese.
  I applaud Secretary Gutierrez and his panel for helping to level the 
playing field for our domestic textile and manufacturing.

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