Adm. Will Ask China for Broad Limits on Clothing Export(CAFTA vote payoff)

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT:
Bush Administration Will Ask China to Agree to Broad Limits on Clothing Exports
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: August 2, 2005


WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - The Bush administration announced plans Monday to seek a broad agreement with China to limit its clothing exports to the United States.

The announcement was a partial payoff of promises that the administration made last week to House Republicans from Alabama and North Carolina to win approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. But some trade experts said the announcement was broader than they had expected and could lead to higher prices for socks, shirts, skirts, trousers, swimwear and many other categories of clothing.

Carlos M. Gutierrez, the Secretary of Commerce, announced the plan, saying that the administration would consult with American textile companies about seeking a broader agreement with China on nearly a dozen categories of clothing. The administration was already weighing restrictions for many of those products, but it made additional promises last week to two Republicans who abandoned their opposition to the Central American trade pact at the last minute....

***

Representative Robin Hayes, Republican of North Carolina and a staunch opponent of the trade pact, switched his vote after House Republican leaders promised that new safeguard quotas would be approved for products like men's trousers, knit fabrics and brassieres.

Representative Robert B. Aderhol, Republican of Alabama, abandoned his opposition a few hours before the vote when the administration promised to seek new protection against imported socks. Mr. Aderholt represents Fort Payne, Ala., which, with nearly 100 local sock mills, has called itself the sock capital of the world....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/business/worldbusiness/02china.html

[Robert Oak]

1. ha ha ha

"Will you please limit clothing exports, pretty please with a cherry on top???"

No? Well, ok then.

[mikehiggins]

2. YOu have to wonder if they are ALL insane

Just exactly what will we do if the Chinese refuse our pleas?

This is the decade of the Chinese expansion, and the end of US hegemony in the world. By 2020 we will be in the same relationship to China as Britain is to us. Interesting times, indeed.

[Zorra]

3. Guess what, folks? The Chinese OWN a shitload of Mexican sweatshops!

They are buying them up.

I live in Mexico, and a Mexican friend told me just today that the the Chinese now own large numbers of apparel maquilladoras in Mexico, and are paying slave wages - $10 for a ten hour day!

So that article of clothing that says "Made in Mexico" or "Made in Honduras" might actually be made there, but the majority of profits from manufacture are going to Chinese capitalists.

[wellst0nev0ter]

4. More "Free Trade" Faery Tales

I wish I could be so cynical that these machinations don't break my irony meter.