BEIJING Aug. 12 -- China and the United States will launch a new round of negotiations over the textile conflicts between the two countries next week, according to a source from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

    "China's delegation will head to San Francisco next week upon the invitation of the US side," the ministry said yesterday. "The negotiation will focus on the technical affairs."

    The two-day consultation will be the latest move between the two countries after the United States imposed caps on China's textile and garment products in May.

    "MOFCOM held a conference on Tuesday among major domestic textile exporters, listening to the obstacles they encountered in textile trade with the United States as well as suggestions and demands for future trade," said Cao Xinyu, vice-chairman of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles.

    He said Chinese companies expected that new negotiations would rule out the uncertainties before them.

    Due to the lack of an agreement over textile for the remainder of 2005 and next year, the Chinese and US businesses dare not make orders or accept deals, which could further affect the profit and confidence of companies.

    "They hope an agreement will make the situation clear, so as to create a steady development environment for the Sino-US textile trade," Cao said, adding that the agreement reached between China and the European Union was a good example.

    But the outcomes might depend on the negotiations with the US side, as the US textile sector wants a deal to restrict Chinese imports under a certain level that would eliminate the need for them to file new safeguard petitions.

    John Stubbs, a spokesman for the US Trade Representative's Office, said the Bush administration has not yet decided whether to formally seek a comprehensive deal over the conflicts with Beijing.

    The Bush administration is still under consultation with the US Congress and industry groups over this issue and has not made a final decision yet, Stubbs said.

    The two countries held two rounds of talks over the textile disputes in June and July, but failed to reach an agreement.

    Chinese textile producers prefer to face additional safeguard measures initiated by developing countries, after settling the textile disputes with the European Union and preparing for consultations with the United States.

    Earlier reports from the Brazilian newspapers said that its domestic textile industry was preparing 15 petitions to its government for safeguard measures for at least 80 categories of Chinese textile and apparel products.

    They claimed the inexpensive textile products flooded their market and injured the Brazilian textile sector.

    The Colombian and South African textile industry are also attempting to introduce curbs to imports of Chinese textile products, saying that Chinese products have hurt their domestic market.

    In another development, China's commerce ministry said in a statement yesterday that relevant governmental agencies have discussed on August 10 with their Russian counterpart for a mutually satisfactory solution to the incident in March, in which over US$9 million worth of Chinese shoes were raided in Moscow.

    (Source: China Daily)