Row grows over bill to boost US-Pakistan trade: Guardian

Saeed Shah in Peshawar

A furious row has broken out between US clothing manufacturers and American retailers over a flagship assistance policy for Pakistan, aimed at boosting the textile industry in war-torn parts of the country.

At stake are American jobs. The policy, contained in a bill before Congress, would allow Pakistani clothing makers in the Taliban-dominated north-west of the country to export their products duty-free to the US. But critics say that could come at the cost of American workers.

American retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Levi Strauss, and brand owners, together with Pakistani manufacturers, are lobbying to expand the terms of the initiative. They say the programme is so restrictive in the products it covers that it is a "hollow gesture" and would not boost the current $3.1bn (£1.9bn) worth of annual textile exports from Pakistan to the US.

The bill, championed by Barack Obama, seeks to provide employment for people who might otherwise be sucked into militant groups, which pay handsomely. "If this [bill] was amended, it could really turn things around in NWFP [North West Frontier Province]," said Afan Aziz, the chairman of the NWFP wing of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association.

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