Textile Associations Dismisses Bush Govt''s Textile Report

Textile associations of United States unanimously dismissed the the Bush governments second textile report trumpeting efforts to help the local textileindustry compete against imports.

Textile associations rejected the interagency task force report and the administration’s pledge to help the textile industry and pointed to the 49,600 jobs a 10.2 reduction in the workforce - that have been lost on an unadjusted basis since the last textile report in September 2002.

"We''ve lost nearly 50,000 workers since they issued the last report and they call that an improvement?" asked Cass Johnson, interim president of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. "If this is the sum total of the President''s plan to save the textile industry, then we''re sunk." The government''s failure to act quickly on more crucial issues, such as imposing quotas on imports from China, has fueled the textile job losses, according to a coalition of textile groups.