|
US
Inks Free-Trade Deal With Australia
The U.S. and Australia signed a free-trade agreement that sets the stage for the
U.S. President to send it to Congress this year, even if it is uncertain there's
enough time for Congress to consider it, given that it's an election year.
The trade pact contains a yarn-forward rule of origin, which means textiles and
apparel must be produced from yarn or fabric in either the U.S. or Australia to
receive duty-free entry to the U.S. Duties on some apparel and textile products
will be phased out immediately, while others will be phased out over a longer
period of time, up to a maximum of 18 years.
Australia is a small supplier - currently ranked 47th - of textiles and apparel
to the United States, with only a 0.16% share of the U.S. import market. For the
year ended March 30, the value imports of apparel and textiles, primarily cotton
and wool apparel, totaled US$239.1 million, according to the U.S. Commerce
Department.
Textiles
U.S.
Apparel Imports Rebound
U.S. apparel imports were up 7.68% in volume in March from the same month last
year - the first sign of a possible rebound for the coming months. Shipments had
declined 3.21% and 3.42% in January and February, respectively.
After slightly decreasing in February, imports from China rose 39% in March
while shipments from Mexico were down 1.65%. Imports from Hong Kong and India
were up 19% and 17.65%, respectively. Shipments from Pakistan are also surging,
although from a lower level.
Countries benefiting from duty-free access continue to send more apparel to the
U.S. market, especially Jordan (+ 92% in March), Colombia (+28%), Lesotho (+
19%), Peru (+29%), Kenya (+50%), Swaziland (+52%), Madagascar (+118%).
The rebound in U.S. imports was concentrated on a small number of categories,
including 339 (W/G cotton knit shirts, +15%), 342 (cotton skirts, +46%), 350
(cotton dressing gowns, +35%), wool sweaters in categories 445 and 446 (+81% and
+ 103%), MMF hosiery (+89%), MMF W/G suits (+79%).
Pakistan's Textile Exports Reach $9 Billion
Despite the gap between demand and supply of cotton lint, Pakistan's textile
industry has performed exceptionally well this year, with the industry's exports
climbing to nearly $9
billion
during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2003/04.
"We can safely say that the overall textile exports may touch a magical
mark of $10 billion at the end of the current fiscal year," said Faisal
Shaji, research analyst at brokerage Capital One Equities. As of May 19, textile
companies had exhausted more than 40% of the total allotted textile quota for
United States and the European Union (EU) for the year, he noted.
|
