Apparel Exporters Stateside Warned of Anti-dumping Measures in 2007

Vietnamese apparel exporters to the US may face difficulties in the second half of 2007 as the US will possibly adopt anti-dumping measures against Vietnam-made textile and garment imports at that time, if it finds signs of dumping, said an official from the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex).

 

She said the US would strictly monitor apparel imports from Vietnam, especially trousers, shirts, underclothes, swim suits and sweaters, in the first half of the year though Vietnamese textile and garment exports stateside would not be burdened with quotas from January 11, 2007 under WTO and PNTR commitments.

 

Thus, around July or August next year, Vietnamese textile and garment businesses shipping products to the US may face this barrier if they are not careful in exporting and do not seek solutions from now, the official warned.

 

From now to the end of 2006, local garment companies still export products to the US normally. Between January 1 and 10, 2007, the Ministry of Trade will grant automatic visas for batches during this period of time. After January 10, garment shipments to the US will not be under quotas and the ministry will apply its own supervision mechanism.

 

The US is now Vietnam’s biggest textile and garment importer. Last year, Vietnam shipped stateside $2.9 billion worth of apparel products. The figure was reported at roughly $2 billion in the first eleven months of 2006 and is expected to reach $3.4 billion for the whole year.

 

Vietnam now ranks sixth among apparel exporters to the US.

 

This year, the country will fetch textile and garment export revenues of over $6 billion, compared with $4.85 billion last year.