Taiwan Wins Revised Textile Accord From U.S.

Taiwan and the U.S. Have revised and extended their textile export agreement after negotiations in Washington this week, a spokesman for the Taiwan Textile Federation said.

Charles Chen told Reuters the original three year accord has been extended by one year to the end of 1989. The U.S. Has agreed to raise the limit on annual growth of Taiwan’s textile and apparel exports to one pct from 0.5 pct for calendar 1989, he said. “The new accord is more fair and gives breathing space to our textile makers (so they can) diversify their exports to other nations,” he added.

Chen said the revised agreement puts Taiwan on similar textile exporting terms to Hong Kong and South Korea. But despite the changes, Taiwanese firms have lost orders to rivals in Hong Kong and South Korea because of the strong Taiwan dollar, he said. The Taiwan currency has risen 17 pct against the U.S. Dollar since September 1985 while the Korean won rose by some six pct and the Hong Kong dollar was stable.

Taiwan’s textile exports to the U.S. Amounted to 2.8 billion U.S. Dlrs last year out of total exports to the U.S. Of 7.8 billion. Textile exports are expected to remain the same this year, Chen said.