Textiles

The Bush administration reimposed limits on Chinese-made synthetic fabric, brassieres and other undergarments Thursday after U.S. and Chinese negotiators in Beijing failed to agree on how to rein in apparel and textile exports to the United States . The two countries had hoped to resolve the textile dispute in time for Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington next week. The steep rise in textile imports has been a major contributor to the soaring U.S.

This is a nautical neighborhood, this wedge of territory at the southern edge of Costa Mesa just a few blocks inland from Newport Harbor, a batch of lower-middle-class neighborhoods sprinkled with ships' chandlers and sailmakers and boat builders. The air here is laden with salt. It's only natural that Mark Olson would have his office here, too. Mark Olson Textiles is one of the largest importers of sailcloth in the United States.

The United States and China have failed to reach agreement on a deal to limit a flood of Chinese clothing and textiles coming into the United States. Negotiators said Thursday that the talks would resume next month. The U.S. side said progress in narrowing the differences had been made in this week's talks that lasted from Monday through Wednesday night, a day longer than scheduled.

Trade tensions between China and the European Union eased Friday as the two giants agreed to limit the Asian nation's surging textile exports. The accord, however, came amid new signs of growth in China's booming export juggernaut, which has sparked protectionist sentiments in Washington. China's trade surplus nearly doubled to $8.99 billion in May from $4.59 billion in April as exports outgrew imports, the Beijing government reported Friday.

The Bush administration announced plans Tuesday to impose quotas on Chinese textile imports, protecting another U.S. industry from foreign competition and increasing pressure on Beijing to address a growing trade imbalance. The decision, which applies to Chinese-made brassieres, dressing gowns and knit fabrics, is expected to roil relations with a country that has become a lightning rod for anxiety about U.S. trade deficits and job losses.

An explosion in Chinese apparel and textile exports is fueling a backlash in the United States and Europe, while triggering labor shortages in China and job losses elsewhere. The outcry was triggered this week by new data showing a sharp increase in China's clothing and textile exports in January. New Year's Day marked the expiration of a decades-old global quota system that had limited China's market share. Unhindered by quotas, China's sales to the United States surged 65%, to $1.

Popping into dozens of showrooms, they scrutinized hundreds of variations on the stripe and dot. They touched the denims, nylons and tweeds. They talked, they pondered, they nibbled (candy, cookies, pretzels, pistachios). Then they took the free swatches or ordered sample yardage. "The follow-up comes later," explained California Mart spokesman David Stamper. In many ways, the atmosphere at the recent Los Angeles International Textile Show came closer to a country fair than to a business affair.

The masked intruders burst into Ace Knitting Co. just before 11 p.m. They stuck a pistol to the head of the lone employee, bound his wrists with shoelaces, then sped away with a truckload of booty. The target of their carefully woven scheme: bolts of spandex fabric. Long the bane of the fashion police, the body-hugging fiber is now bedeviling local law enforcement.

Struggling Southern textile producers have for decades been fierce advocates for protection from cheap imports. But faced with sharply rising imports from China, a growing number of those firms are throwing their support behind a trade pact with Central America that would reduce trade barriers.

Chen-Wei Chang will be watching closely when negotiators for the U.S. and China meet today in Beijing to try to resolve a festering textile dispute. The Southern California apparel executive has held off ordering next year's inventory from China because she doesn't want her clothing stuck on a dock -- again. This year, the U.S. government imposed quotas on some Chinese apparel and textile goods when imports surged and domestic manufacturers cried foul.