TEXTILE INDUSTRY
US wants to help African textile trade
Posted Mon, 04 Apr 2005
The United States Trade Department is considering ways to assist
southern Africa textile producers in the face of America opening
up its market to imports.
The African producers had been enjoying preferential access
under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
"$61-billion of annual textile imports have been
liberalised," Agoa advisor to the Gaborone-based US Southern Africa
Global Competitiveness Hub, Amanda Milligas, said on Friday at a
press conference.
Of that, $1.6-billion was from southern Africa, and $20.1-million from Botswana.
The production of the Botswana exports had created 7000 jobs in
seven companies.
There were fears over the future of these companies, but the
trade department was looking at ways the US could still offer them
a market.
A report expected to suggest ways to trim the companies' utility
and transport costs and setting quotas for textile imports from
Agoa countries, would be
presented to Congress in July.
China the biggest threat
China is seen as the biggest threat to the African exporters.
"Any measures such as quotas would be China specific," said
Milligas.
Commercial and economic officer at the US embassy in Botswana,
Hagen Maroney, said that free trade agreements such as that promoted
between the countries of the Southern African Development Community
and the Southern African Customs Union and Agoa did not adversely
affect each other.
"Each could build on the others, there is no competition, the US
wants to build intra-Africa and international trade," he said.
Sapa
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