Import Problems

Foreign competition remains a king-sized head-ache, despite the fact that mills have staged a modest recovery from recent recession lows. Again, China is the chief culprit, as U.S. combined imports of textile and apparel products from that nation have been running close to 30-percent above last year's already high levels — far above comparable gains noted for all other nations. One result: Chinese incoming shipments now account for nearly half of all U.S. imports of these products. With such numbers, it's easy to understand increasing industry and Washington pressure to stem the tide — primarily by insisting that