Curtain makers in the United States cannot justify their calls for measures to be taken against Chinese curtain importers, the China Home Textile Association said in a statement.

The association denied US allegations of surging Chinese exports into the United States.

The growth rate for China's curtains exports to American consumers has actually experienced an annual decline since the quotas on curtains were eliminated between World Trade Organization (WTO) members in 2002, the Chinese association explained.

Meanwhile Chinese companies' unit export prices to the United States have been going up.

Statistics from China General Administration of Customs indicate the country exported some 59 million curtain pieces to the US market in the first four months of this year, up about 30 per cent over the previous year. The total value stood at US$183 million, reflecting a year-on-year increase of over 31.5 per cent.

Therefore, the association said exports to the United States were moving back toward a mild growth rate after restrictions on such products had been lifted.

The association stressed that shrinkage in the US curtain making industry was a natural consequence of global adjustments in the textile industry rather than because of pressures from Chinese manufacturers.

If pre-emptive measures are launched, they will not only hurt China's curtain making industry, which employs more than 1 million people, but also hurt the interests of US customers, importers as well as those US curtain companies who have invested in China.

The association called on the US Government and associations to find a solution to trade frictions over curtains as well as other categories of textiles through direct consultations with China.

The US industrial association requested on May 31 for the US Government's Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) to apply safeguard measures to two classes of curtains from China.

(China Daily July 7, 2005)