France lodged a formal request with the European Commission on Tuesday for emergency action to curb Chinese textile imports, which have leapt since the abolition of a global quotas regime on January 1. A spokeswoman said the EU executive received a letter from French Industry Minister Patrick Devedjian and Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos seeking to short-circuit a process which could trigger limits on 9 categories of clothing and textiles.
"We will look at the request in the light of our guidelines, which are that (to launch the emergency procedure) we need to show imminent serious injury to European industry," EU trade spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said.
The Commission has warned member states against over-hasty action, saying it could fall foul of World Trade Organisation rules and trigger a challenge from China.
"I will not be rushed into any over-hasty response or action," European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told reporters in Hong Kong earlier on Tuesday. "Decisions will be based on facts so that our actions are defensible."
In Beijing, a spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry said a planned EU investigation into its textile exports ran counter to the spirit of free trade and could damage Sino-European trade.
China signed orders worth about $3.2 billion for 30 European Airbus aircraft last week during a visit by French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
The Chinese note that each plane is worth the equivalent of 20 million Chinese shirts exported to Europe.
After joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001, China agreed to allow members of the organisation to place import restrictions on its clothing and textiles if a sudden surge in shipments threatened to disrupt their markets.
The so-called "safeguards" provision, which allow countries to limit Chinese imports to 7.5 percent above the previous year, expires at the end of 2008.
Mandelson has recommended opening of an investigation by the Commission into the 9 categories of mostly clothing products, of which imports have leapt in some cases by over 500 percent since the quotas system ended. Veron-Reville said a green light to launch the probe should come on Thursday.
It would last for a maximum of 60 days, but Mandelson has said it should be completed by mid-June. "We are striving to accelerate the investigation," Veron-Reville said.
At the end of the investigation, if the Commission determines that serious market disruption has occurred, it can launch formal consultations with China, requesting that it curb their exports to levels agreed under the safeguard clause.
These consultation should last 90 days but if, after 15 days, China has not taken any action to self-limit its exports the EU can act immediately to impose the limits itself.
France, where potential job losses blamed on Chinese imports have become an issue in the campaign for a May 29 referendum on the EU constitution, has used its right to request "emergency procedures". If accepted, this would fast-forward the process to the formal consultations stage.
Veron-Reville said any limits imposed on Chinese shipments would be backdated to the start of formal consultations, which means they could effectively kick in as early as June.