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United States Of America : Textile Industry Ruing End of Quotas |
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2003-8-20
If the U.S. textile industry seems like it''s barely hanging by a thread this year, just wait. Next year could be far worse.
That''s because quotas that suppress the number of low-cost imports into America are scheduled to expire at the end of 2004, meaning even tougher competition for U.S. textile companies.
The industry is still in shock after the loss of 8,900 U.S. textile
jobs in July, according to the American Textile Manufacturers Institute.
That number doesn''t include the effects of the July 30 bankruptcy by Pillowtex Corp., which could eliminate 7,600 jobs.
With China''s textile makers anticipating the quotas'' end, executives and union leaders say the United States could be left with little more than niche manufacturers.
"It''s a tsunami occurring the day after a hurricane. It''s going to be a disaster to whatever is left of the textile and all other related
industries," said Harris Raynor, vice president of the Union of
Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees office in Atlanta.
Since April, the United States has lost 26,000 jobs in textiles and
21,000 jobs in apparel. About 745,000 Americans work in both trades.
Next year''s deadline is the end of a decadelong phase-out for quotas used by the United States and other wealthy countries to limit imports from developing nations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Industry watchers predict the quotas'' end will only accelerate China''s growing market dominance. The American Textile Manufacturers Institute predicts that 630,000 jobs in textiles, apparel and related industries could be lost by 2006.
The effects could begin to be felt as early as next spring, as orders for U.S. fabric and yarn for clothing to be produced in 2005 drop.
North Carolina would be the biggest loser, with about 85,000 more
textile and apparel workers losing their jobs in the next three years.
Other textile states hit hard would be South Carolina with 42,000
layoffs, Alabama with 30,000 and Georgia with 25,000, the report said. Major apparel states California and New York would shed about 81,000 and 29,000 jobs, respectively.
The crux of the problem is the same as in every free-trade debate:
Cheaper foreign imports benefit American consumers, but force domestic producers to cut prices or lose market share.
Textile executives say the quotas have helped slow the drain of U.S. textile jobs.
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