The report suggests that countries such as Lesotho and Kenya, where trade quotas coupled with preferential access to the US market through the 2000 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) had spurred investment in textile production, are suffering from factory closures and the resulting job losses. Foreign investors, particularly Asian ones, have been moving their operations elsewhere. The erosion of AGOA trade preferences has seen African textiles and apparel exports to the US drop by 25 percent. Latin American countries, Mexico in particular, are also losing market share around the world .Bangladesh, which was once widely expected to suffer greatly from the liberalisation of textile trade, has in fact expanded its capacity as well as its exports to the US. Cambodia has also increased its exports to the US and been able to maintain its share in the global textiles trade, as its reputation for decent working conditions has helped attract and retain investment. Turkey’s textile exports increased 12 percent and its clothing exports by 9 percent in the first half of 2005. .The ILO carried out the study for a 24-26 October meeting of labour unions, businesses and governments that examined socially responsible ways of dealing with the altered situation in the textile and clothing industryThe ILO Report, entitled “Promoting fair globalisation in textiles and clothing in post-MFA environment,” is available at. .ICTSD reporting; “US says textile talks with China fail to reach resolution,” AFX, 13 October 2005; “ILO to host wide-ranging talks on global textile and clothing trade,” ILO NEWS, 11 October 2005.
Date:10/30/2005
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