The EU urged China on Sunday to cut its textile exports or face formal curbs on products such as T-shirts and trousers, which have leapt in some cases by more than 500 percent since the end of a global quota system. "Europe cannot stand by and simply watch these developments unfold. The time has come to take further action," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said, announcing plans for a probe into nine categories of Chinese textile and clothing products. His decision to recommend to the EU executive Commission an investigation into the surge which followed the Jan. 1 winding up of a global quota regime could lead to formal curbs on Chinese shipments by the European Union within 150 days. But major textile producers including France, Portugal and Italy said his initiative was not enough and they would push for the probe to be expanded to as many as 20 product categories. Under the terms of its entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, Beijing agreed that members could cap imports of Chinese clothing and textiles at 7.5 percent above the level of shipments the previous year until 2008 -- provided they demonstrate that their own firms are suffering. --MORE 2323 Local Time 2023 GMT
