China on Friday announced new tariffs to rein in a surge in textile exports, a concession aimed at easing a clash with the United States and Europe over Chinese goods flooding into their markets. The announcement came after the United States imposed quotas on imports of Chinese textiles, which have soared since a global quota system expired on Jan. 1. The European Union also is pressing China to restrain the growth of its textile exports, AP reported. «China is a responsible country, and it is for the purpose of helping establish a new world textile trade order and ease the trade friction that the government made the concession,» Sun Huaibin, a spokesman for the government-affiliated China Textile Industry Council, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. The new Chinese charges take effect June 1 on 74 categories of textile products, and could increase export tariffs for most goods by up to 400 percent, Xinhua said. Xinhua didn't give any details, but said China now charges tariffs of 2 to 4 percent on 148 categories of textile and clothing exports. That would mean the new tariffs could range from 10 to 20 percent. It wasn't immediately clear whether the taxes would satisfy the United States and the EU. --More 1234 Local Time 0934 GMT
