In a move designed to improve its tracking of textile and apparel imports, the Commerce
Department is establishing a new system for monitoring textile trade. The system will allow the
deparment and the public timely access to preliminary textile and apparel trade data from the US
Customs and Border Protection Agency, and allow policy makers to more quickly analyze the impact of
imports on the US market.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said the action “demonstrates the commitment of this
administration to put in place the tools necessary to enforce our trade agreements and level the
playing field to support our domestic textile and apparel industry.”
The move was hailed by the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), which had long
sought such a program in order to enhance the textile industry’s claims of market disruption by
Chinese imports. In welcoming the news, AMTAC’s executive director, Auggie Tantillo, said: “We are
confident that the data the US government will be releasing will show dramatic increases in US
imports of textile and apparel products from China, and the data will help to prove the industry’s
claim that China is disrupting the US market.”
The Commerce Department said it expects the new system to be in place by the first week in
April. In order to provide public access to the information the department will post the data
biweekly on its website,
http://otexa.ita.doc.gov.
March 1, 2005
