Safeguards for Chinese garments are not ruled out

The micro and small companies (mypes) of the country’s textile and clothing sector have been insistently requesting the Government to apply control measures in the face of the excessive presence of garments imported from China and Bangladesh that are offered at prices so low that the industry National cannot compete. Of every 10 garments on the market, 9 are shipped from Asian countries, according to the National Society of Industries (SNI).

This week opens a new possibility that the Executive opt for the application of safeguards and antidumping measures for imported Asian garments, which according to an investigation by the union they enter Peru at a price 50% lower than what it costs in China.

President Dina Boluarte had a meeting with the businessmen and after listening to them, she promised to start a dialogue with Karin Caceres Durango, the new head of Indecopi, and initiate a new investigation ex officio to analyze this problem and help determine the appropriate measures to avoid unfair competition.

This way, Dina Boluarte will meet again with the businessmen and the representative of the indecopi to communicate concrete actions. The meeting was agreed for today; however, it has been rescheduled for Wednesday the 29th, according to industry sources.

A transparent investigation

The textile and clothing sector represents 30% of the manufacturing industry and provides more than 400,000 jobs. job direct and 1 million indirect; “It is a sector that demands a very massive workforce,” says Jesús Salazar, president of the SNI.

The businessman explains that for the investigation that Indecopi would undertake again to be practical and viable, the requirement to survey 50% of the mypes, which are more than 50,000 companies, because in the previous investigation it was not achieved and it was one of the reasons for the Multisectoral Commission, made up of the Ministries of Economy and Finance (MEF), Production (Produce) and Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), decide not to apply safeguards.

“The World Trade Organization (WTO) says that the investigation must be launched and that there must be a survey. The one who put the amount of 50% plus one was us as Peru. So a supreme decree is enough to modify the percentage. It should not be an exact amount, but a statistical sample”, explains Salazar.

Along these lines, Susana Saldaña, president of the Gamarra Peru Association, told this medium that the investigation must begin immediately and be transparent so that measures are generated that help businessmen to compete on equal terms.

“Peru has the duty lowest in the region, even when compared to countries that do not even have a textile industry, such as Bolivia and Ecuador,” Saldaña said. She added that she hopes the president will consider all the technical explanations put before her to make a decision this week.

Mypes do not want bonuses, but work

In the meeting with the president, the employers made it clear that they are not looking for bonuses or subsidies, but work. They called for two urgent measures to support the economic recovery of the sector.

First, direct budget to the MYPErú Purchases program, which allows the State to make 40% of its purchases from mypes.

And second, access credits with low rates, which differ from the commercial ones.