Editorial: Rival textile and clothing producing countries aim to make gains from the US-China trade war IMPACT OF THE US-CHINA TRADE WAR ON CHINA AND THE USA

摘要

China remains by far the world's biggest producer of textiles and clothing but its share of the world market has been falling in recent years.Between 2014 and 2017,the latest year for which comprehensive data are available,China's share of world clothing exports fell from 39% to 34%,according to the World Trade Organization(WTO).Moreover,this share is believed to have fallen further in 2018 and 2019 as Western buyers have continued to shift some of their sourcing needs to lower cost producers elsewhere in Asia and to producers in closer proximity to their own markets.The reasons are not hard to find.GDP per head in China has nearly doubled in ten years as the Chinese economy has boomed,and labour costs in the country have soared.But in 2019 China's share is likely to decline further as a result of the US-China trade war in general and the imposition of additional tariffs on US imports from China in particular.Back in mid-September 2018,it was announced that,with effect from September 24,2018,the USA would impose additional tariffs of 10% on US imports of products in 5,745 tariff lines from China,representing a total import value of approximately US$200 bn.At the same time,it was also announced that the additional tariffs would be increased from 10% to 25% with effect from January 1,20191.For a short while,the increase in the percentage which had been scheduled for January 1,2019,was postponed as talks between the two countries were held.But the talks broke down and the additional tariffs were imposed on May 10,2019.