Researches On WTO Textile Specific Safeguard Measures

The quota history of textile trade should be terminated with the expiration of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, however, according to the stipulations of Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China and Report of the Working Party on the Accession of China, the textile specific safeguard measures (hereinafter referred to as"TSSM") shall be applied to textiles and apparel products originally produced in China until 31 December 2008. Relevant WTO contracting parties enact or amend its domestic legislation accordingly and the TSSMs against the textiles and apparel products originally produced in China grow in intensity in the so-called post ATC era. Then what is China's reaction and countermeasure or which one we should adopt? All standards shall be vested in the stipulations of the legal instruments on China's Accession to WTO, to judge whether the TSSMs against the Chinese textile products has exceeded Chinese promise on the accession of WTO and has resulted to adverse impact on the export of Chinese textile. It is undeniable that WTO is platform to balance the benefits of different parties and is a result of compromises and benefits of different parties, Chinese promises on the accession of WTO is result of benefits balance of different parties and many economic and political parameters are involved in the TSSMs China faced with now. Therefore, this paper intends to analyze and explain from the legal nature of the legal instruments on China's accession to WTO, specifically analyze and explain Paragraph 242 of Report of the Working Party on the Accession of China ("Para.242") from the legal perspective. The analysis and explanation of the substantive and procedural requirements of Para.242 to begin with a TSSM against Chinese textile products is based on the whole WTO frame, integrated with relevant WTO rules, principles, and the practices by DSB. Certainly, the concept of TSSM is not the first time to appear in the legal instruments on China's accession to WTO, the concept and system of TSSM is changed and developed from GATT to the establishment of WTO and thereafter, all such evolutions have impacts on the TSSM which is eventually appeared in the legal instruments on China's accession to WTO. Therefore, to understand the history evolution of TSSM and to analyze the difference of each development and its background is necessary and helpful to clarify the concept of TSSM, analyze the contents of Para.242 and the reactions and countermeasures of China.This paper is constituted with 5 chapters, Chapter 1 discusses the TSSMs under GATT frame, including the generation of the concept of market disruption - the foundation of the TSSM and its contents and the stipulations and the developments of TSSMs under relevant international treaties in respective of international textile trading arrangement from the Sort-Term Arrangement of Cotton Textile to the Multi-Fibre Arrangement in GATT ear.Chapter 2 is about the TSSMs under WTO frame, it discusses the negotiations of textile trade and the transactional specific transitional safeguard mechanism in Uruguay round as well as the specific transitional safeguard (TSSM) under the finally reached Agreement on Textile and Clothing. Under WTO frame, the requirements of the textile specific transitional mechanism is much strict and detailed, which reflects principle that the selective safeguard measure is allowed to be adopted efficiently and promptly under strict conditions.Chapter 3 is about the legal interpretation and analysis of TSSMs against Chinese textile products, it mainly discusses the stipulations of the TSSMs against the textile products originally produced in China under Para.242. It is specified that TSSM is an exception of WTO, therefore both the substantive requirements and procedural requirements shall be satisfied according to WTO rules and practices, to prevent the restriction to the normal trade as a result of the abuse of TSSM. After the interpretation and analysis of the chapter, it is put forward that the substantive requirements, such as market disruption, substantive damages or threat of substantive damages, domestic industry, threaten to impede the orderly development of trade shall be fully satisfied as well as relevant procedural requirements shall be conformed to. The relevant applied standard is further discussed in this chapter.Chapter 4 is about the analysis of the TSSM domestic legislation of European Union and the United States, it discusses that the substantive requirements and the procedural requirements to be conformed to when the TSSMs against Chinese textile products is applied in accordance with their domestic regulation, and further discusses whether such enactment has exceeded the stipulations of Para.242 of Report of the Working Party on the Accession of China which has raised adverse impacts on China's textile trades.Chapter 5 is about China's reactions and policies facing the TSSMs against Chinese textile products, it is pointed that besides the legal stipulations, many other economic and political parameters are involved in TSSMs. It is further discussed in this chapter, by citing the socks TSSM case of the United States as example that many defects existed in the course of the said investigation, relevant legal, economic and political proposal is then followed up.