US decision to limit Chinese clothing imports 'flimsy': New York Times

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 22, 2003

US decision to limit Chinese clothing imports 'flimsy': New York Times

A leading US newspaper said Thursday that the Bush administration's decision on Tuesday to limit clothing imports from China to protect struggling US companies "looks flimsy."

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A leading US newspaper said Thursday that the Bush administration's decision on Tuesday to limit clothing imports from China to protect struggling US companies "looks flimsy."

"China simply appears to be the current scapegoat of choice in Washington for any and all economic woes," The New York Times saidin its editorial.

On Tuesday, the US government announced that it would restore curbs on imports of knit fabrics, dressing gowns and bras from China, a move that has caused trade tensions between the two big trading powers.

The paper said that the job loss in the US manufacturing sectorsince 2001 was due to "to a slowing economy and to productivity growth."

America's exports to China are rising faster than its imports, and the growth of those imports is largely driven by American and other foreign investment in China, the paper noted.

"Any caricature of China as a closed, unfair trader is further belied by the trade deficit it runs with many of its Asian neighbors. Its overall surplus is rather modest," the editorial said.

Nonetheless, the paper said, the Bush administration decided to cater to anti-Beijing sentiment by seeking limits on some apparel imports.

If the White House is calculating that this may stave off callsfor even more serious protectionism, it is willfully disregarding its own record.

Mentioning Washington's steel tariffs and its farm bill of 2002,the paper said that the moves "have antagonized the rest of the world, while encouraging more calls at home for protectionism."

Meanwhile, US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Thursday that "creeping protectionism" could jeopardize the America's ability to narrow the deficits without adverse consequences.

Speaking at a monetary conference sponsored by the Cato Institute, Greenspan said that ballooning trade deficits have not hurt the U.S. economy so far.

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