Has there Been a surge in exports of textiles and clothing to the 25-nation European Union (EU), especially from China and India, since quotas were abolished on January 1? European manufacturers allege a significant increase in imports, but by early February no import statistics were available. The indirect evidence of import licences granted during January 2005 for imports from China suggests however a substantial increase in exports of a number of items. Licences for the import into the EU of 46.5m T-shirts, jumpers etc (Category 4). pieces, valued at ?100m were issued in January, as against actual imports of 17m., valued at ?45m, in January, 2004. The unit price dropped from ?2.64 to ?2.17. Similar increases have been recorded in jerseys, anoraks etc (Cat. 5), shorts, trousers (Cat. 6), women's blouses (Cat. 7), women's coats and jackets (Cat. 15) and women's dresses (Cat. 26), In nearly every case there is a drop in unit price. The drop in unit price for women's dresses was particularly sharp - to ?9.78 in January, 2005, from ?14,40 in January, 2004.
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