Quota Returns to Safeguard Garment Trade

Cambodia's garment exports already reported steep declines in March and last month, according to the Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia (GMAC). The industry has already laid off 25,000 workers this year as 10 percent of factories pulled out of the country.

However according to this report, relief may be on the way. The U.S. has enacted a "safeguard" on import quotas on four textile and garment items out of China; and the EU is expected to follow suit by re-applying quotas on at least nine items from China.

Under WTO rules, safeguards can be re-applied on textile and garment imports from a country if that country's exports create excessive "market disruption" during the first three years of quota-free trade.

The safeguard clause has given Southeast Asian exporters a much-needed breather in their battle against global garment heavyweight China -- which claimed 16 percent of the world's market last year and could easily capture up to 50 percent in the next decade.

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