Vietnam seeks to set 2004 US textile quotas by Oct
HANOI - Vietnam aims to
finish assigning 2004 quotas for textile and
garment exporters to the United States by
next month, Vietnam's Trade Minister Truong
Dinh Tuyen said on Friday.
"We will try to complete textile quota
allocations by October for 2004," he told a
meeting of the American Chamber of
Commerce following a trip to the United
States aimed at promoting trade ties.
The products are Vietnam's second biggest
export earner after crude oil, providing
turnover of $2.92 billion in the first nine
months of this year.
The former war foes inked a bilateral pact on
textiles and garments earlier this year that
caps exports of the products to America at
$1.7 billion in 2003 and increases by
between two and seven percent depending
on products, annually through 2004.
In the first implementation of the agreement,
a number of U.S. retailers including J.C.
Penney (nyse: JCP - news - people) said
they did not get enough shipments of
garments because quota allocations did not
always go to factories with orders.
Tuyen acknowledged the teething problems
with the agreement and said the government
had determined "that new allocations will
establish better and long-term relationships."
For 2004, Vietnam's textile industry has
proposed that factories with a track record
of fulfilling orders be given the lion's share of
the quotas of 75 percent.
Previously, some factories that had never
shipped any orders were allotted quotas,
and some were also given to smaller
enterprises.
The pact runs through end-2004, but will be
automatically rolled over each year until
Vietnam joins the World Trade Organisation.
Textiles and garments formed the biggest
share of Vietnam's key export items to
America last year, at 38 percent.
Overall exports from Vietnam to the United
States are forecast to reach a record $3.4
billion in 2003 from $2.42 billion in 2002,
Vietnam's Trade Ministry said.
Business between the two countries has
picked up significantly since the signing of a
bilateral trade pact that went into effect in
December 2001.
By Christina Toh-Pantin - Reuters - September 26, 2003.
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