Some aspects of U.S. textile import policy relating to selected developing Asian countries

Abstract

This paper highlights some aspects of the practice of discrimination by the United States of America in its import policy for regulating the imports of "textiles" (including textiles and clothing) from selected developing Asian Countries under bilateral agreements within the framework of the current Multi Fiber Arrangement (MFA). We have selected five such countries for special study, namely, Hong Kong, China (Taiwan), Republic of Korea, India and Thailand. These countries have been selected for illustrating the effects of the relative degree of restrictions imposed by the U.S. in its current bilateral agreements with three different types of suppliers from the so-called "low cost" developing countries.