Whether The US Curbs China US Textile And Clothing Trade By Taking Advantage Of The Diaoyu Island Incident Is Affected

The United States and Japan held a 37 day "island protection" war drill from the 21st, and this is the first time that the island has been used as a drill site. The timing of this US Japan military exercise at a time when tensions between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands have intensified is an act of "adding fuel to the fire", which more fully exposes the sinister intention of the US to use the Diaoyu Islands to contain China's rise.

Diaoyu Island incident, Sino US Japan relations are tense, so Sino US textile clothing Is trade affected?

Affected by the financial crisis, the US economy is in a downturn. As one of China's largest exporters, the United States has always been the focus of attention on the import and export trend of both sides in the coming year. The new US President Barack Obama took office, and China has been in power since 2009 textile There are no quota restrictions on exports, and the United States has recently introduced the new regulations of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act... What will be the situation of Sino US trade in the new year? EFU conducted an exclusive interview with Li Xinyu, the chief representative lawyer of Shuobo International Law Firm, on the impact of US trade policies on the future Sino US textile and clothing trade:

EFU: Hello, lawyer Li. As we all know, the economy of the United States has been hit hard from the subprime mortgage crisis to the financial crisis on Wall Street. The United States has always been one of China's largest exporters, and this crisis will inevitably affect Sino US trade relations. Can you talk about your views on Sino US trade relations, especially the future trend of China's textile and clothing exports?

Lawyer Li Xinyu (hereinafter referred to as Li): Thank you.

My prediction is that China's total exports to the United States will not decrease after the recovery of the United States and international markets. From the perspective of processing and manufacturing industry alone, there is a gap between other countries such as India, Vietnam and China, and it is difficult to fully replace China's role as the world factory in the short term.

The so-called gap is reflected in infrastructure, labor proficiency and experience, diversification of capital and sales channels, and the state's support for processing and manufacturing industries. The processing and manufacturing industry of China in the previous period was affected by the adjustment of national policies. Vietnam and India once tended to replace China and occupy the low-end product market of the United States. However, the development of these countries has also been affected by the international financial crisis recently, and Chinese enterprises, including textile enterprises, have been given a breather due to the recent adjustment of the government's industrial policies.

In terms of textiles and clothing, I still believe that in the long run, clothing exports in the quota free era will continue to increase. The rate of increase depends on the recovery of the US economy.

From historical experience, even under quota restrictions, the number of ready-made clothes exported by China to the United States has not been greatly affected (the reasons for the decline of exports this year are different). The reason is that there are a large number of goods entering the United States through gray channels. Therefore, when many people complained about the strict restrictions imposed by the US side in the past, the fact that garment factories in the mainland did not shut down on a large scale is evidence. This is also a feature of Sino US clothing trade.

EFU: Obama is about to become the new president of the United States, and the world is paying attention to the new changes in American policies after he took office. I believe lawyer Li has also been paying attention to this focus. What do you think will happen to China US trade policy after Obama takes office?

Li: Everyone expected Trade Protectionism will rise. However, as both countries are restricted by WTO trade rules, the United States can take limited new restrictive measures. Particularly noteworthy is the issue of countervailing duty CVD, because officials of the United States Trade Representative Office have indicated that CVD investigations are more likely in informal occasions.

Some trade organizations in the United States, such as the National Council of Textile Organizations, have repeatedly criticized China's recent policy of increasing textile export tax rebates, calling it illegal government subsidies, and asked the new U.S. government and Congress to take measures.

US Vice President elect Biden accused the Chinese textile industry of unfair competition against US enterprises in North Carolina last month. Obama has also publicly expressed support for monitoring China's textile imports next year. The trade protection policy of the new Democratic president will have a subtle impact on the conduct of relevant investigations and the mentality of the officials of the US Department of Commerce.

However, many American media do not believe that there will be a big trade war between China and the United States, because the United States has to consider the impact of China's possible retaliation on other American industries. Therefore, it is more likely that the two countries will adjust their policies and reach a compromise.

EFU: From next year, China will export spin Products will no longer be restricted by quotas. For exporters, this good news ends the history of spending money to buy quotas. In your opinion, does the lifting of this restriction have any other impact on Sino US textile trade?

Li: Considering the current economic environment, removing the quota fee and reducing costs are undoubtedly good news for both Chinese exporters and American importers. From past experience, when there is no quota, as long as the consumption capacity of the US market recovers, the exports of Chinese manufacturers will increase significantly, and some categories of products will even gain advantageous market shares. This will undoubtedly provide a pretext for domestic trade protectionists in the United States.

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However, unless the Chinese government implements self restriction and artificially controls the quantity of textile exports, it is inevitable that China's ready-made clothing exports to the United States will increase significantly after the cancellation of quotas in 2009, because this is an issue of industrial structure.

Recently, it was reported that Chinese and American officials have begun to contact to discuss the textile trade after 2008. The possibility of reaching some kind of agreement between the two countries is also of concern. A certain degree of "self restriction" may not be a bad thing for the orderly development and growth of China's textile exports to the United States.

EFU: The Sino US trade has been rubbing against each other for a long time. Since 2009, China's textile exports are no longer subject to quota restrictions. Once the trade deficit further expands, will the United States introduce new policies and regulations in the form of legislation, such as anti-dumping, countervailing and other measures against China's textiles to implement punitive trade retaliation against China?

Li: As mentioned above, due to the restrictions of WTO trade rules, the United States can take limited new restrictive measures in the form of domestic legislation. The anti-dumping and countervailing investigations in the United States are allowed by WTO rules, so they are most likely.

For example, the US Department of Commerce announced on November 21 that based on the monitoring of Vietnamese textile import data in the past, it is unnecessary to initiate anti-dumping investigations on Vietnamese textiles. Nevertheless, the threat of anti-dumping investigations against foreign ready-made garments still exists.

In addition, the United States also threatened to conduct anti subsidy litigation against China within the framework of WTO. According to the US document, there are 73 "illegal" subsidies from the Chinese government for the textile industry, including the government's expenses for encouraging enterprises to upgrade their technology and organize activities such as brand travel. Relevant competent departments should think deeply about this.

Because the legal war between the United States and Europe against China in the WTO has been successful for several times. Experts and scholars in the industry should also study the list of subsidies listed by the United States as soon as possible to assess whether the abolition of these government subsidies has a significant adverse impact on textile enterprises, so that textile enterprises can take precautions.

EFU?

Li: From past experience, both China and the United States have some import and export enterprises with weak legal concept. There are many doubts about the authenticity of the import documents they submitted to the US government. In order to reduce the additional costs of product testing and certification, these manufacturers may make false certification and statements about products exported to the United States. In view of the growing demand for product safety in the United States, the enforcement of the United States Customs and CPSC will be strengthened, so it is recommended that these manufacturers not take risks.

Because the new CPSIA regulations have just been implemented, there is no specific case at present. However, the United States Shuobo Law Firm has acted as an agent for companies that have been sued by the CPSC for importing and selling inferior toys.

In fact, the import case of toxic pet food contaminated by melamine, which was once so popular, has not ended. Last year, the US prosecutors sued not only the US importers and company executives, but also two export enterprises and their executives in Xuzhou and Suzhou, China. These people are likely to be arrested by the US Customs once they travel to the US for business because they face criminal proceedings.

EFU: The US Customs frequently sends out news against Chinese exporters, such as intellectual property seizure cases, illegal entrepot, counterfeit goods, etc. Can lawyer Li summarize the current trade barriers to China's textile exports and the issues that need to be emphasized and paid attention to?

Li: As mentioned above, because of the restrictions of WTO obligations, I think the legal trade barriers that the United States can adopt should be limited.

In the quota free era, Chinese enterprises also need to pay attention to some non trade barriers, such as corporate social responsibility requirements.

EFU: Lawyer Li has many years of experience in American customs law and international trade law. Based on your experience and looking forward to 2009, what are your new suggestions and views on China's textile and clothing exports to the United States?

Li: From the perspective of lawyers, there are mainly the following aspects:

The first reason is that the US government and the public have paid great attention to product quality and safety in the past two years. Some new regulations of CPSIA, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of the US, have been implemented. One of them is to require imported products to be tested and foreign exporters or importers to make written certification. Because this is a mandatory legal provision, domestic garment export enterprises should pay close attention to this and make sure that export products comply with the provisions of CPSIA.

Secondly, after the abolition of the quota system, the United States Customs is expected to strengthen the examination of intellectual property rights and the declared value of commodities. When implementing the quota system, the enforcement focus of the US Customs is mainly on the declaration of origin, quota category and declared quantity.

Recently, we have received many complaints from customers that the US Customs has raised questions about their declared clothing prices, and requested to provide materials to prove the authenticity of the transaction price. Because the tariffs on textile clothing account for more than 40% of the tariff revenue of the U.S. government, it is expected that the U.S. Customs will further strengthen its verification of the dutiable price of textile clothing in the future.

Those Chinese garment export enterprises that have passed through the customs clearance agency of the United States should pay special attention to this problem. Their American customs clearance agents should not ignore the questionnaire received from the United States Customs, which will lead to various adverse consequences, such as the customs unilaterally increasing the amount of taxes, imposing fines, requiring the recall of goods The declared value of subsequent imported clothing shall be checked every time.

The correct response should be to timely submit commodity samples and cost information to the customs to prove the authenticity of the transaction price. If necessary, a lawyer should be hired to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

Chinese garment export enterprises that have cleared customs through the United States should also pay attention to the increase in fraud against Chinese export enterprises in recent years.

According to the situation reflected by our lawyers' clients, some frauds were actually committed by American agents who helped to clear customs. Common fraud means include forging documents to falsely claim that the goods were seized and confiscated by the US Customs, then reselling the goods privately for profit, pretending to be customs or local law enforcement officers to "confiscate" the goods that have been cleared, and third parties conspiring with illegal freight forwarders to send goods and clear customs in the name of Chinese enterprises. Because of factors such as poor information, being restricted by others, and problems with the goods themselves in China, Chinese garment export enterprises lack preventive measures against these frauds.

Finally, the impact of 100% X-ray scanning on customs clearance time. The US Customs has started the so-called 100% X-ray security scanning inspection of air cargo, which is expected to gradually affect all imported cargo. Considering the time required for security scanning, domestic export enterprises should pay close attention to the practice of American customs clearance ports and adjust the shipment time appropriately to avoid delayed delivery.

From the perspective of business, I also have the following suggestions:

First, do not blindly follow the so-called high-end product route without understanding the characteristics of the American market. Excellent garment processing technology and skilled skilled workers are China's traditional strengths, and domestic enterprises cannot lose them.

At present, it is unrealistic to enter the American market with the export of private clothing brands. If you want to cultivate your own clothing brands, you should also start from the domestic market. Domestic enterprises should not ignore the characteristics of the international market and the textile and clothing industry, especially the huge investment of foreign brand holders in brand awareness and guiding market trends.

From the current situation, few domestic garment enterprises have the strength to compete with international famous brands with their own brands. One of the important reasons is the huge gap between the two sides in terms of capital and market development experience.

It may take 100 years or more for Chinese garment enterprises to cultivate their own internationally renowned brands. Actively striving for the processing and OEM business of foreign garment buyers is of great significance to the long-term development of Chinese garment enterprises and the improvement of domestic employment. My view is that even if Chinese manufacturers have their own internationally renowned brands, China cannot give up the strength of garment manufacturing and processing in the future.

The recent policies adopted by the Chinese government to increase export tax rebates and adjust processing trade deposits can be seen as a kind of adjustment to the one-sided emphasis on high-end lines since last year. Even if there is no international financial crisis, countries should do the same.

Resume of Li Xinyu

Li Xinyu (Jason, Xinyu Li) Partner Lawyer

Scope of practice: US Customs Law International Trade Law

Lawyer qualification:

In 1998, he was qualified as a lawyer in New York State, the Supreme Court of New York State, the United States Court of International Trade and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and in 2002, he was qualified as a lawyer in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Education background:

He received his bachelor's degree in international law from Wuhan University in 1990, his master's degree in international economic law from Wuhan University in 1993, and his master's degree in maritime law from Tulane University in 1997.

Professional associations: China International Law Society, Maritime Law Society, American Maritime Law Society, American Customs and International Trade Law Bar Association and New York State Bar Association.

Relevant work experience:

Lawyer Li Xinyu has been engaged in the legal work of customs law and international trade law in the United States since the beginning of 1998.

Lawyer Li has received legal education in both China and the United States, has good legal literacy, and has a profound understanding of the differences between different legal systems and business environments. During his long-term practice in the United States, Lawyer Li has accumulated rich experience in handling trade legal affairs between China and the United States and helping clients with different cultural backgrounds. He has participated in handling a large number of transnational transactions in the United States, and has represented different types of customers in various import and export legal affairs, from small and medium-sized importers to large foreign manufacturers, exporters and American listed companies, such as Big 5 Sporting Goods Company, Skygate, Pan Asia Banner, Crestron and Apex in the United States. The services provided by Lawyer Li to clients involve various fields and links of the US import and export trade, and also include the affairs of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Ministry of Finance, the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) related to the US customs enforcement. Lawyer Li has rich experience in handling customs seizure and confiscation cases, other administrative punishments and customs predetermined compensation cases, administrative reconsideration and customs intellectual property protection cases. The commodities involved include textiles, shoes, mechanical and electronic products, jewelry, toys and food products.

Lawyer Li has been interviewed by Guangdong TV Station, American Fashion News Magazine and other media on Sino US trade law and textile issues, and has also published a monograph on American customs affairs in China, Customs Valuation - American Law and Practice (University of International Business and Economics Press, 2003). Lawyer Li is now the chief representative of the Shanghai Representative Office of Schoenberg International Law Firm in China, responsible for the legal business of the law firm in Greater China.