Central America battles China T-shirt issue.

With China temporarily sidelined by a trade embargo, its Asian rivals are in a tussle with Latin America for T-shirt supremacy. The Central American countries are hoping in the long term to be boosted by the Central American Free Trade Agreement, according to the industry monitor Emerging Textiles.Global shipments of T-shirts to the U.S. grew by nearly 12 percent in the first half of 2005, compared to the same period in 2004.

Post-quota surgeProfiting from the end of quotas in January 2005, Asian textile producers China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan marked significant increases in shipments of T-shirts to the U.S. in the first part of the year.Chinese shipments to the U.S. rose by more than 1,000 percent. However, the surge in Chinese shipments could grind to a halt because an embargo is now in effect on category 338/339 (knit shirts, including T-shirts). Imports from Bangladesh and India, meanwhile, rose by 374 and 270 percent, respectively. U.S. imports of Pakistani T-shirts increased 72 percent during the same period.

Latin AmericaMexico continues to be …