As we move into May， budding and blossoming season of the year， our attention to the on-going trade wrangle between China and United States of America is also burgeoning in the Spring-time. Knowing that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnunchin is reported to come to China to discuss the subject in question， we will bend ourselves on any step of process that might lead to a smooth transition from confrontation to consultation on mutually-beneficial terms. On March 22， Secretary Mnuchin issued a statement on what is called “the Presidential Memorandum on Chinas unfair trading practices”， saying that “Chinas discriminatory and unfair trade and investment practices are aimed at， and detrimental to， the United States”. Our government acted instantly to reprimand such a groundless accusation deliberately designed to impose unilateralism and protectionism on a free trade world. Chinese Ministry of Commerce （MoC） made a clear-cut comment that reads “China will not sit idly in the event of damages to our own legitimate rights and interests. China does not want to fight a trade war， but it is absolutely not afraid of that. We are confident and capable of meeting any challenge”！

And sure enough， the Ministry of Commerce was not shuffling its steps to act on a quick move to announce a list of products relating to agricultural， chemical， automobiles and airplanes industries that are to be imposed on tariffs at the rate of 25%， equaling to US$50 billion imports from U.S.A. ， in a tit-for-tat response to U.S. governments announcement to impose additional 25% tariffs on US$ billion worth of imported products originating in China.

It seems the dramatic effect has not reached its climax as U.S. side demands more in an unexpected bargain for another US$ 100 billion deficit cut in bilateral trade balance sheet ， which fans the trade dispute flame to a point of conflagration. What will come out of the up-coming discussion between the two economic giants is yet to see， but U.S. trade deficit is not expected to be rewritten in a short timeframe. We textile players want to know what will happen to the textile industry if U.S. government is waywardly going all out to rebalance the trade sheet in disregard to WTO rules by unilaterally taking trade remedy action on us？

United States is a trade deficit player in its total international trade except for some agricultural products and some high-tech regimes where it has comparative advantages， but the textile sector is not exceptional. For many years running， America imports about US$100 billion or more worth of textiles and apparel while its export registers somewhere around US$22.6 billion， leaving a huge trade gap that can never be filled， thanks to the equally huge consumption demand that is impossible to be fulfilled by local production alone. According to U.S. Department of Commerce， the year of 2017 witnessed Chinas export to U.S.A. for over US$38 billion while we imported only US$ 0.89 billion from the United States of America in textiles and apparel put together.

It is important to note that the textile industry in the United States has fared on pretty well ever since it walked out of economic mire in 2009， and its shipment value， export， employment and other economic indicators are in good shape， crediting these achievements to productivity， flexibility and innovation that keep this traditional industry on cutting-edge advantages， which provide no good excuses for staging on any trade war on the world textile industry.

Editor-in-Chief

May， 2018