major change coming in world textile trade ....Jan 1....total free trade

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,328645,00.html

GLOBALIZATION

Will China be the World's Top Tailor?

On January 1, all import quotas on textiles worldwide will disappear. Worldwide clothing production stands to change radically and entire countries will suffer. China, however, will win big -- the country is poised to nab 50 percent of global clothing production for its factories.

....

...Import quotas will be dropped at the beginning of 2005 for all items in the textile and clothing industry. Whether socks or silk scarves, T-shirts, sheets or brassieres -- beginning on January 1, 2005, only one law will apply to every bit of material shipped to Europe or the United States: the law of free trade.

The entire industry, valued at about $350 billion, is about to experience what may be the biggest transformation in its history. Deregulation will lead to massive shifts in global trade, and will make deep inroads into the tightly-woven system of the international distribution of labor, with grave consequences for the world's 40 million, primarily female textile workers.

Third World economies at risk

more....

i grew up in New England which lost it's clothing business very early,whole towns were boarded up for years.America is becoming a third nation.

...is that the US Textile Industry has already been destroyed.



This is what the textile industry looked like BEFORE unions and regulation.
This is what the rich owners want the indusrty to look lke again.





"Lets bring back the Good Ol Days," said the wealthy republican.
"Those kids will work for CHEAP as long as you keep em hungry!"

fabrics are essentially chemical products - many chemicals used to process the textiles and the dyes.

Europe and Japan had the strictest restrictions on some of these chemicals, especially for children's clothes. WTO has already weakened their requirements.

Third world countries use chemicals, especially pesticides, that have been banned in this country. Some of these chemicals are neurotoxins. Sometimes products are treated with extra chemicals to withstand the shipping and storage.

Formaldehyde, pesticides, fungicides and toxic dyes are in fabrics. Be careful that the imports you are buying are not made with extra toxic materials or those banned in the US.
How will you know? You will get sick.