Clothing Exports Staged "Ice And Fire"

One is soaring 140.2%, one is sharp drop 16.6%, the former belongs to the European Union, the latter belongs to the United States.

At first glance, export statistics of Zhongshan textiles in the first quarter of this year were also astonished by customary statisticians who were accustomed to rise and fall.

Recently, reporters learned from the Zhongshan customs that because the EU has abolished textile export quotas this year, and the quota system is still in the shadow of the subprime crisis, the two major export places of Zhongshan textiles are quite different.

However, it is reported that the US will cancel the textile export quotas by the end of this year.

The arrival of the "quota free" era will inevitably stir up the export pattern of Zhongshan's clothing. How will Zhongshan enterprises cope with it?

Europe's "blowout" has fallen sharply.

The European Union and the United States are the two most important textile exporters in the city. The export volume of the two places has always been very different. In 2007, Zhongshan exported $260 million to the EU, while exports to the United States amounted to $252 million.

However, Zhongshan customs statistics show that in the first quarter of this year, Zhongshan exported $106 million to the 27 countries of the European Union, up 140.2% from the same period last year. During the same period, Zhongshan exported only 44 million 396 thousand dollars to the United States, which was less than half of the EU's exports and dropped by 16.6%.

The head of the customs and Excise Department of Zhongshan thinks that such a big change has occurred. On the one hand, the EU has abolished the quota of Chinese clothing export since January 1st of this year, so that the small and medium-sized garment enterprises that failed to obtain the quota have also been given the opportunity to export. Therefore, a "blowout" phenomenon has appeared. On the other hand, the United States not only implements the quota system, but also its domestic economy is troubled by the subprime crisis, which has a direct impact on the export of Zhongshan clothing to the United States.

Actually, it is not just textiles. Zhongshan's overall foreign trade situation in Europe and the United States has changed significantly this year.

The trade volume between Zhongshan and the United States in the first quarter was 1 billion 30 million US dollars, an increase of only 1.8%, a decrease of nearly 18 percentage points over the same period last year.

EU trade has maintained a relatively fast growth rate, with trade volume of US $850 million in the first quarter, an increase of 16%.

"Quota" stirred the pattern of garment export.

The "blowout" of textile exports is not the first time to occur. After the abolition of the global textile trade quota system in 2005, similar situations occurred.

Since then, the quota system has been launched again in Europe and the United States. From January 1, 2006 onwards, China must carry out the quantity management of the 10 categories of textiles exported to the EU and the 21 categories of textiles exported to the United States.

The impact of European and American restrictions is immediate.

It is understood that in the 2006 annual textile export license number of the first tender, only 137 enterprises in our city have proposed and obtained the bid invitation license, and finally 59 enterprises have won the bid.

According to the statistics of Zhongshan inspection and Quarantine Bureau, in the first half of 2006, our city exported $49 million 60 thousand to us garments and exported US $45 million 430 thousand to european garments, down by nearly 50% and 20% respectively.

According to the EU China textile trade agreement, the EU has lifted quota restrictions since this year.

According to the agreement between China and the United States, the quota limitation period for textile products exported to the US is three years and will end by the end of this year.

At present, the news from all sides has indicated that there will be no suspense about the abolition of the US textile quotas next year.

This means that the "quota free" era of textile exports will come again.

How should Zhongshan enterprises deal with quotas?

"Incomparable cold and cheerless, half an hour can not touch an American customer."

Mr. Li, who has just returned from the Canton Fair, said, "I also heard that the United States may cancel the quota, which is a great benefit for us."

According to Mr. Li, he had bought quotas for some large enterprises in the first two years due to insufficient quotas. "A quota of one or two dollars is almost the gross profit of a pair of jeans. How do you say we earn money?"

Relative to the optimistic attitude of the enterprise, the head of the customs acted cautiously.

A customs control expert of Zhongshan customs believes that the abolition of quota restrictions does not mean that it has completely opened its doors. There may be other policies to restrict the export of Chinese textile products, such as anti-dumping and countervailing, which are more dangerous than quotas to a certain extent.

On the other hand, the US trade downturn is mainly due to the US economic recession. The downturn in the Canton Fair can illustrate the problem. Coupled with the adverse factors such as the appreciation of the renminbi and the rising price of raw materials, it is not enough to pull the market by merely lifting the quota.

Zhongshan customs experts suggest that the garment enterprises in Zhongshan should take the "quota free era" as an opportunity for enterprises to upgrade their grades and innovate and take the road of differential development.