China warns US over trousers quota

China urged the US not to impose limits on the import of Chinese-made cotton trousers, saying such moves would violate WTO principles and hurt trade relations. The comments from the Ministry of Commerce came after the Bush administration agreed to accept a petition from the US garment industry and consider imposing a quota. The application was the second move against Chinese textile exports to the US within a week, following a decision to impose a limits on imports of Chinese socks. Further petitions from US manufacturers are expected to follow, in the run up to the ending of WTO global textile quotas on January 1 – a date expected to trigger a surge in Chinese textile exports to the US.