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China and India are expected to dominate world trade intextilesand clothing starting next year when the United States andotherindustrial countries have to remove restrictions onimports,according to a World Trade Organization reportreleasedThursday.The WTO predicted that China alone will accountfor morethan half of the global textile market following the end tothequota system that has governed international trade intextilessince the 1960s. The WTO-negotiated agreement will
allowproducersto export as much as they can sell - and the reportcontends thatwill be a lot more than many developing countries aresellingnow.Indian and Chinese industries will become significantlymorecompetitive, as the United States, the European Union andCanada -by the far the worlds biggest importers of textiles - opentheirmarkets, the WTO said.China had 30 percent of 2002 globalmarketshare in clothing and a 22 percent share in textiles. Othermajorexporters include Germany, South Korea and Turkey.But theexpectedsurge in Chinese and Indian competitiveness might belimited by thetime it takes for its products to reach consumermarkets. The WTOsaid the lag should help to insulate countriesclose to the mainmarkets from increased competition.Mexico, theCaribbean, EasternEurope and North Africa are therefore likely toremain importantexporters to the United States and EU respectively,and possiblyretain their market shares, the report stated.Thosecountries willhave an added advantage because they have regionaltrade agreementswith those major markets, giving them preferentialaccess, thereport found.Increasing competition from other countriesis alsoanother threat to Chinas dominance.Other developingcountries arecatching up with China in terms of unit labor costs inthe textileand clothing sector and China has not yet showncompetitivestrength in the design and fashion segments of themarkets, thereport added.The most likely exporters to lose marketshare arethose located further away from North America and WesternEuropeand which currently have either quota or tariff free accessto U.S.and EU markets, for example sub-Saharan African countries,thereport found.Local producers in the United States and EU willalsostand to lose out because of pricing pressure, amongotherfactors.(China Daily)
（信息来源：MOFTEC英文版子站）
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