Window of opportunity in free trade. (U.S. bilateral trade agreements with other countries)

Bilateral textile agreements with China, Egypt, Hong, Kong, Hungary, India, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines and Bangladesh expire within the year. AAEI says the White House should seize this opportunity for free trade rather than wait on Uruguay Round talks in GATT.

The Bush administration should pursue free trade in textiles and apparel through bilateral negotiations, instead of extending current restrictive trade agreements while awaiting the outcome of the overdue Uruguay Round multilateral negotiations, according to the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI).

With the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations unlikely to produce an …