SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Section 204 of the Agriculture Act of 1956, as amended; Executive Order 11651, as amended.

Background:

Requests for China textile safeguard action based on the existence and/or threat of market disruption, on twenty-four textile and apparel product categories, were filed between November 12, 2004 and October 11, 2005, by a coalition of textile and apparel industry associations and a union representing textile and apparel industry workers. CITA accepted each of these requests for consideration and published notices in the Federal Register establishing a 30-day public comment period. The twenty-four product categories are:

The Committee's procedures state that it will make a determination within 60 calendar days of the close of the public comment period as to whether the United States will request consultations with China. The deadlines for determination on these cases range from November 30, 2005, through February 5, 2006.

On November 8, 2005, the Governments of the United States and the People's Republic of China signed a broad agreement concerning textile and apparel products. This Memorandum of Understanding was reached with a view to further developing the bilateral economic and trade relationship between the United States and China, providing the textile and apparel industries in the United States and China with a stable and predictable trading environment, and resolving trade concerns through consultations under Paragraph 242 of the Report of the Working Party for the Accession of China to the World Trade Organization. In light of the Memorandum of Understanding, and consistent with its objectives, the Committee has terminated further consideration of all textile safeguard requests that were pending on the date the Memorandum of Understanding was signed, November 8, 2005.

70 FR 71471