The president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones (Adozona), Arturo Peguero told El Caribe that the re-imposing of quotas on 13 May on three categories of clothing imports from China by the US is good news for the DR. The reviving of the quotas could start as early as the end of this month. Peguero says the reimposing of quotas will encourage contractors to source these items from the Americas again. “With these measures we will enjoy a marginal positive effect because the groups that were producing in China will now look again to Central America and the DR, countries that are closer geographically to the US,” he said.
The move by Washington means that shipments in the three categories – cotton shirts, cotton trousers, and man-made fiber underwear – will be permitted to increase this year by just 7.5%, compared with shipments over a 12-month base period. Cotton trousers, alone, compose the US’ single-largest textile and apparel import category, with about US$11.3 billion worth of the product imported by US retailers in 2004, according to the Department of Commerce.
In a written statement released to the press, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said that a government investigation had found that “a surge” in shipments from China since global quotas were eliminated on January 1 “was disrupting the domestic market.”
The US government adhered to the so-called “safeguard measures” in the 2001 World Trade Organization agreement with China that allow members to impose limits on Chinese textile products “if a sharp rise in imports disrupts their domestic markets.”