The Municipal Foreign Trade And Economic Cooperation Bureau Reminded: Be Vigilant Against Trade Protection Measures

The high growth of Foshan's clothing exports to the US in the first quarter may cause the US government to use trade protection measures. Reporters learned yesterday that the Foshan Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau and the Foshan Customs jointly issued the sixth issue of the fair trade import and export Bulletin of Foshan (hereinafter referred to as the "bulletin"), which shows that in the first quarter, Foshan exported $66 million 370 thousand to the US, a significant increase of 22.1%.

The Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau reminds us that the rapid growth of exports to the United States may increase the coefficient of trade friction. Foshan clothing export enterprises should cherish the market that they have won, and pay attention to the rhythm of export to the US, especially the varieties that increase too fast, increase in volume and fall in price. We should pay close attention to the export data of the whole country and the information of importing countries, maintain high vigilance and take appropriate precautions against risks.

Exports to the EU decreased slightly by 7.2% in the first quarter.

In the first quarter of this year, Foshan exported garments and accessories 300 million US dollars, down 5.5% compared to the same period last year. Among them, the year-on-year growth rate of 1% was achieved in March, and the export volume of US $100 million was 46.4% higher than that in February. This has reduced the total export volume of clothing in Foshan in the 1 quarter by 2.9 percentage points from 1 to February.

The European Union, Hongkong and the United States remain the three largest markets for clothing exports in Foshan, but only the US market performs well. In the first quarter, Foshan exported 66 million 370 thousand US dollars to the United States, a huge increase of 22.1%, exports to the EU of 82 million US dollars, a slight decrease of 7.2%, and a decrease of 12.2% to Hongkong's exports of US $75 million 670 thousand.

Emerging markets are more stable, exports to South America and Africa have increased, while the Middle East and Russia have declined slightly. Canada and ASEAN markets declined the largest, exported 10 million 220 thousand US dollars to Canada, down 20.6%, and exported US $8 million 800 thousand to ASEAN, a decrease of 50.1%.

It is possible for us to use trade protection measures.

From the monthly data, in addition to the low export data to the US in February, exports in January and March were 27 million 80 thousand US dollars and 26 million 20 thousand US dollars respectively, which is similar to the average monthly export volume in the second half of 2008.

It is understood that since 2009, China's export of textiles and clothing quotas to the United States has been abolished, and clothing exports in China show a moderate growth trend. However, the US side is extremely concerned about the sound of calls for monitoring measures, and the risk of trade friction has increased.

This risk comes from the "self insurance" policy of the United States. It is reported that the US economic stimulus plan has incorporated textiles and clothing into the terms of "buy American goods" and extended the provisions of the Berry amendment 1941 to the Department of homeland security that the US Department of defense can only buy Textiles and clothing from the United States, which fully shows the concern of the new US Congress on textile trade protection.

In addition, in the United States 2009 fiscal year comprehensive appropriation act, the United States will ask the US Department of Commerce to strengthen the implementation of China's textile trade relief measures. According to the briefing, these Provisions fully indicate that the US government is very likely to use trade barriers in the near future to export textile products to the United States or to adopt trade protection measures for domestic related products.

Major textile exports fell for 6 consecutive months

Foshan's textile exports have declined for 6 consecutive months. The bulletin shows that Foshan's textile exports amounted to US $190 million in the first quarter, down 17% compared with the same period last year. Among them, the main export products and markets were all down.

Cotton knitted fabric, knitted fabric and cotton yarn are the three main categories of Foshan's export textiles. The total exports of the three categories of textiles amounted to US $120 million in the first quarter, accounting for 60.3% of the total value of textiles exports in Foshan, but the three also fell sharply.

From 1 to March, Foshan's textile exports to the Asian market were US $150 million, a decrease of 16.2%, accounting for 78.6% of the total value of textiles exports in Foshan. Among the major Asian countries, the markets of Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and Thailand fell by 53.3%, 13%, 8%, 6.5% and 3.8% respectively.

Meanwhile, exports of Foshan, ASEAN, EU, Africa and India, the top five in the textile export market of Hongkong, also declined in the first quarter.