Inez blasts Bush plan to cut 600,000 textile jobs

[wyethwire]

TENENBAUM URGES BUSH TO RECONSIDER TEXTILE QUOTA DECISION

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- U.S. Senate candidate Inez Tenenbaum today expressed
her disappointment in the Administration's decision not to extend
existing quotas on Chinese textile imports that are set to expire later this year.

"While South Carolina has lost 70,000 jobs in three years, China's
textile industry is booming, now accounting for 21 percent of textile
imports into the U.S.," Tenenbaum said. "Without a limit on these
imports, China will quickly become the largest fabric supplier in the
world, costing even more jobs for hard-working families in South
Carolina."

"I urge the Bush Administration to consider the impact on South Carolina workers and reconsider its decision to let these quotas expire," Tenenbaum said.

As part of her 10-point "South Carolina Works" jobs plan, Tenenbaum has vowed to get tough on China, which has consistently undermined fair trade rules. She would extend the existing quotas until 2008, or
perhaps indefinitely; insist that China let its currency float in the
open market; and halt China's illegal transshipment of goods through
countries such as Vietnam and Mexico.

NOTE: A story from today's New York Times on this issue is below.


June 10, 2004
White House Shuns Role on Textile Quotas
By ELIZABETH BECKER

ASHINGTON, June 9 - More than 130 Republican and Democratic members of
Congress asked President Bush on Wednesday to persuade the World Trade
Organization to delay the phase-out of a global quota system on textiles and garments.

The administration swiftly rejected the request, which would mean
breaking a 10-year-old global agreement to end the quotas on Jan. 1,
2005.

Ending the quotas could lead to a wide-ranging realignment of the
industry and spell disaster for textile and apparel industries in dozens of nations, including those in the United States, according to officials of the American textile and apparel manufacturing industry.

Textile industries that were established in poor countries to take
advantage of special quotas given by the United States or Europe are
among those that the officials said would be threatened by the loss of
special access to those huge markets.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[Catfight]

1. Bush has got to stop his nonsense. Unemployed American's is

the most unpatriotic, anti-American thing I've ever witnessed.

[kayell]

5. The BFEE could care less about unemployed Americans

If anything, their economic policies are deliberatly to create more unemployed or underemployed Americans. Benefiting the super-rich class who will be even MORE relatively wealthy, and will have an endless supply of poor workers willing to do damn near anything just to avoid starving. The super-rich won't have to complain about not being able to get servants anymore.

I really don't think that their STUPID (to us) economic policies are actually stupid when you consider what they actually want to accomplish. They could care less if the nations economy is worth a damn, so long as they continue to be Masters of the Universe. And continuing in that role requires that nobody else feels comfortable enough to be able to talk back.

[deeprig9]

2. SC has already been destroyed by....

...international trade in textiles. Holding out quotas longer isn't going to fix it, the damage has been done. I live here. I know.

[SCDem]

4. Most all of us who post on here live in South Carolina

that's why the thread is entitled South Carolina. So do you suggest that we continue to ship all the textile and manufacturing jobs to China because SC "has already been destroyed." You say "the damage has been done." as if it can't get any worse. It can and it will if we continue at this pace. Many areas in our state have unemployment rates of 10%+ because manufacturing has left the state to overseas. Do you suggest we bolster small businesses? That's what many say but how many small businesses need to be created and to succeed in order to employ the 70,000 people who have lost jobs?

With an attitude like yours SC will continue to be destroyed.

[Moderator]

3. wyethwire

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.

Thank you.


DU Moderator