On fourth round of U.S.-Chinese talks China disagrees to lessen textile exports on US market

China said Friday that U.S. proposals to lessen the impact of surging Chinese textiles exports on American manufacturers are unworkable because they threaten China's own textile industry and provide insufficient incentives.

A fourth round of U.S.-Chinese talks on surging Chinese exports of low-priced T-shirts and other textiles ended Thursday in Beijing without agreement. American producers say the flood of Chinese goods could result in the loss of thousands of jobs.

"Things would not have become so discouraging had it not been for the U.S. insistence on terms that, as seen by the Chinese side, contain too few, if any, incentives for its highly competitive textile industry," an editorial in the official China Daily newspaper said.

The paper did not give details about the U.S. proposal.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the two sides couldn't agree on the scope or timeline for limits on Chinese textile exports.

A statement Friday from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Beijing would not "sign any agreement that will hurt China's interests and harm the healthy development of China's textile industry."

China is seeking an agreement that will create "a stable environment" for the bilateral, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Chinese textile exports soared after the end of a worldwide quota system on Jan. 1.

Washington responded to complaints by U.S. producers by imposing controls limiting the growth in imports of Chinese pants, blouses and other textile goods to 7.5 percent a year, the AP reminds.

T.E.