U.S. Textiles Officials Revamp Rules for Hong Kong Imports
March 28, 2011
HONG KONG -- Showing flexibility on controversial requirements to screen imports of Hong Kong garments, Washington is willing to compromise on requiring importers to post bond until their goods clear customs, a U.S. trade official said. However, the U.S. is standing firm on a demand that its customs officials be allowed to carry out inspections of Hong Kong garment factories suspected of transshipping Chinese-made clothes illegally to the U.S., the official told Dow Jones News Services. Last month, the U.S. began imposing tough new regulations on imports of certain Hong Kong-made goods, including suits, skirts, dresses, night wear and underwear. One requirement is that importers of the Hong Kong garments post a bond with U.S. customs equal to the value of the shipment. ``What we have said is, we are willing to look at ways to dispose of'' the bond requirement, the official said. Branding them discriminatory, Hong Kong government officials fiercely oppose the new rules. The U.S. argues they are necessary to prevent illegal transshipments of Chinese goods, which are subject to strict U.S. import quotas. The Hong Kong government estimates about 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars' worth of exports are directly affected by the guidelines. But the U.S. trade official denied Hong Kong government claims that the new U.S. rules contravene its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization. ``We believe this is WTO defensible,'' he said. Factory inspections, which the U.S. proposes to carry out jointly with Hong Kong customs officials, are nonnegotiable, the official said. He pointed to an agreement reached between Macau and the U.S. last month as a successful model of what the U.S. is trying to achieve. The U.S. has imposed the same clothing-inspection requirements on goods from the Portuguese enclave, which neighbors Hong Kong. Later, the Macau government agreed to joint inspections. ``We busted one factory already'' since the agreement was signed, the official said, declining to name the offender. ``The system is working.''
