Japan Plans to Restrain Towel Imports from ChinaA Japanese industrial federation composed of some 500 towel production factories will submit an application next month to the Japanese government for an emergence restraint on the importation of China-made towels.According to Japanese sources, rapid increase in the import of towels from China has adversely affected Japan's towel industry, and other textile products may also be influenced. Statistics from said federation reveal that there had been two consecutive years of rapid increase in imports-a 15.6 percent growth in the imports between January and September 2000-; and a 16.5 percent rise in 1999 over 1998. With the flooding in of same products, the Japanese towel industry, which boasts advanced production technology, is now facing bankruptcy, said president of the above-mentioned federation, adding that as a society has its standard, so does free trade. While the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation announced last December the levying of an anti-dumping tax on cold-rolled stainless steel plates imported from Japan and the Republic of Korea. By PD Online staff member Li Heng |
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