Commerce Announces New Expedited Monitoring System for Imports of Textiles and Apparel
The Commerce Department has issued a press release stating that it is initiating a new system to monitor imports of textiles and apparel products, which will allow the Commerce Department and the public timely access to preliminary textile and apparel data (aggregated on a category basis) from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
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(According to trade sources, this new monitoring system will not be limited to, and may not even include, quota textiles and apparel.)
Expedited Monitoring System to be in Place in Early April 2005
According to the press release, the Commerce Department anticipates that the new system will be in place by the first week in April 2005, at which time preliminary data on textile and apparel imports for the first quarter of the year should be available.
The preliminary data will be posted biweekly1 at the Office of Textile and Apparel's (OTEXA) website at http://otexa.ita.doc.gov.
The press release adds that this new system will allow decision makers to more quickly analyze the impact of textile and apparel imports on the U.S. market.
1the primary definition of biweekly is 'every two weeks,' but in some dictionaries, it has a secondary definition of 'twice a week.'
Commerce Dept press release (dated 03/21/05), available at http://ita.doc.gov/media/PressReleases/0305/textiles_032105.html
BP Note
According to Washington Trade Daily, this new expedited monitoring system is in reaction to the influx of apparel imports in January 2005 - mostly from China. (WTD, dated 03/22/05, www.washingtontradedaily.com )