EU-China dispute
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union declined to comment yesterday on China’s decision to increase tariffs on a range of textile exports, saying it would seek details of the move with an official from Beijing next week. «This is something that we have to see more precisely with the Chinese,» European Commission spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail told a news briefing. «There have been contradictory reports on what exactly the Chinese authorities were about to do. «We will have a good opportunity to do this since next week the textile negotiator for China is coming to Brussels… to see (European Trade Commissioner) Peter Mandelson.» China said yesterday it would increase tariffs on a range of textile exports to cool its trade dispute with the United States and the European Union over a flood of cheap textile and garment shipments since a global quotas regime was abolished on Jan. 1.
