clothing mountain levelled as hurricane whips up philanthropy
Hurricane Katrina and its tragic aftermath have managed to do something that United States and Chinese trade negotiators could not: clear America's docks of excess textile stocks.
Six out of 10 quota-controlled garment categories have been exceeded in the US, and the surplus impounded by customs agents. While nowhere near the scale of recent over-shipments to the European Union, it was another wrinkle for China and the US to iron out in their post Multi-Fibre Arrangement trading relationship.
Then came Katrina and the Bush administration's bungled rescue effort. Thankfully some generous souls in the textile industry saw an opportunity to do some good and asked the Department of Commerce to release the excess clothing to Katrina's victims.
'Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, US apparel importers approached the Committee on the Implementation of Textile Agreements (Cita) asking if their embargoed goods could be donated to the relief effort,' Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced. 'When people want to help, government should find a way to help them do it. Today Cita took action to make this happen.'
Amen to that.