October 31, 2008
News Release 08-102
Inv. No. 332-501
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will monitor certain textile and apparel imports from China at the request of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means, the agency announced today.

The ITC will provide statistical reports every two weeks on the volume, value, unit value, and import market share of textile and apparel items that are covered by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Concerning Trade in Textile and Apparel Products, an agreement between the United States and China which was entered into in late 2005 and will expire on December 31, 2008.

In requesting the monitoring, the Committee said it is concerned that a market disrupting surge in textile and apparel imports from China could occur following the MOU's December expiration. The Committee noted that textile and apparel imports from China increased dramatically following the 2005 termination of import restrictions under the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.

As requested, the ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will provide its first report to the Committee by December 1, 2008. That report will include an historical compilation of the volume, value, unit value, and import market share of the articles being monitored from January 1, 2003, to the most recent month available. Subsequently, the ITC will provide the Committee with reports every two weeks as the data become available. The ITC also will publish an annual data compilation. All reports will be posted on the ITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov).

The ITC will conduct this monitoring under an investigation entitled Textile and Apparel Imports from China: Statistical Reports (Inv. No. 332-501). The Committee's request letter can be found at on the ITC website at www.usitc.gov.

Further information on the scope of this investigation is available in the ITC's notice of investigation, dated October 31, 2008, which can be obtained from the ITC Internet site, by calling 202-205-2000, or by writing to the Secretary to the Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436.