Sino-US textile talks fail to yield any result
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-01 07:13

BEIJING - US and Chinese negotiators failed to reach an agreement on Wednesday to stem China's surging exports of clothing to the United States but U.S. officials said the two sides were continuing to talk, Reuters reported.

A Chinese woman works on a production line at a textile factory in Hefei, east China's Anhui province, August 30, 2005. [Reuters]

Negotiators had hoped to strike a deal so it could be blessed by presidents Hu Jintao and George W. Bush when they meet at the White House next Wednesday.

Cass Johnson, president of the U.S. National Council of Textile Organizations, told Reuters that negotiators had not even narrowed their differences during two days of talks.

"People thought there was a good chance of an agreement coming out of these meetings but it's clear the Chinese government was not interested in moving off its position -- and neither was the U.S. government," said Johnson, one of several U.S. lobbyists who have been tracking the talks in Beijing.

But Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office in Washington, said Johnson's assertion that the talks were over was premature.

"The United States and China continue to hold discussions on textiles trade in Beijing," Moorjani said. "Negotiating teams from both countries are set to reconvene talks at 8:30 a.m. (Thursday morning) in Beijing."

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