U.S. and Hong Kong (2006)

The Office of the United States Trade Representative

U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab and Philippines Secretary of Trade and Industry Peter B. Favila Sign Textile MOU

08/23/2006

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

Background

The United States is the Philippines' most important textile and apparel market, accounting for 80 percent of its textile and apparel exports. In 2005, textile and apparel imports comprised of $2 billion of the United States' $9.2 billion in merchandise imports from the Philippines, making the Philippines the U.S.'s 12th biggest textile and apparel supplier. For the trailing 12-month period ending June 2006, total U.S. textile and apparel imports from the Philippines were up 8.6 percent over the previous year. The MOU will facilitate growth in the textiles and apparel trade by helping both governments better distinguish between legitimate and suspect shipments.

The United States has previously concluded MOUs to combat textile and apparel transshipments with Hong Kong and Macau and is negotiating MOUs with Indonesia and Taiwan. Negotiations with Korea and Malaysia on these issues are part of the ongoing negotiations for comprehensive bilateral Free Trade Agreements with these two countries.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]