Conservatives attack EU over Chinese trade row
Shadow trade and industry secretary David Willetts today criticised the EU over its handling of a trade row with China that has left millions of items of Chinese textiles building up in warehouses and ports across Europe.
Writing in the Financial Times, Mr Willetts attacked the way the EU had imposed quotas on imports of Chinese goods saying it reflected “very badly” on how it conducted its business.
He specifically attacked the way the EU trade minister and New labour architect Peter Mandelson had handled the affair, and called for the government to criticise him.
The argument with China has led to a mountain of 48 million sweaters, 17 million pairs of men’s trousers, three million bras and four million T-shirts building up in warehouses across Europe.
Those goods represent items that breached limits on quotas imposed by the EU in June.
The European Commission imposed the limits following a 500 per cent increase in Chinese exports to the EU after worldwide quotas on clothing were scrapped at the beginning of the year.
But Mr Willets said the clothes building up represented stock purchased in good faith by companies before the EU quotas came in.
He blamed Mr Mandelson for the way he struck the deal over quotas.
Had the deal over Chinese textiles been properly debated it would not have been approved, he said.
“Instead Peter Mandelson’s secretive and backroom method of striking deals has backfired, damaging the retail clothing business and short changing the consumer.”
Mr Willetts also attacked the concept of quotas, saying it amounted to protectionism, and said that free trade “is the best way to deliver sustained prosperity”.
And he suggested that the consumer would suffer, as the quotas would lead to rising prices of clothes.
