EUbusiness - French retailer group decries EU Chinese textile quotas

Major chain stores in France are trying to figure out how to survive an EU turnabout on quotas on Chinese textiles, which has locked up clothing they ordered eight to ten months ago for this fall and winter. French trade minister Francois Loos, however, is defending the retroactive quotas, and telling retailers that they should solve their woes by finding new suppliers in the Mediterranean area. Overnight, apparently.

French trade minister Francois Loos defended the restrictions and challenged retailers to find suppliers in the Mediterranean region in Europe.

"This is evidence that the measures from the European Union on the initiative of France are effective," he told AFP.

"They are causing problems for retailers and I invite them to look towards companies in the euro-Mediterranean area.

Nice guy.

Even if the stores could find suppliers that could manufacture a fresh line of clothes and fit them with the department store labels, etc., and deliver them in the next week or two or three (an impossible task, surely) with what does M. Loos suggest French retailers pay for the replacement stock? They've got substantial money tied up in the clothing they planned on stocking, after all.

France isn't the only EU country with this particular problem. See full EUbusiness.com article for more.

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