Chinese built the Chinese Wall in 206 BC in order to prevent Turkish invasions. Turkish people applied quotas in 2005 in order to prevent Chinese cheap products to invade the Turkish textile industry. The Chinese Wall remains present for thousand years but the quotas implemented against Chinese textile products are violated one by one. Recently, a Chinese Home Textile Exhibition has been organized in TÜYAP on 6-8 June 2014 with the name “China Home Life Turkey”. The fact that the exhibition organized with the support of the Chinese government in Middle East countries is held in Turkey consequently created reaction from exporters having resisted against cheap and low quality Chinese products for many years. ITHIB (Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association)’s President Mr.Ismail Gülle and ITKIB (Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association)’s President Mr.Hikmet Tanrıverdi evaluated this situation with our Editorial Board and underlined that even if not in short-term but in long-term the China home textile exhibition with influence the Turkish domestic market and, “The authorities having allowed this China Exhibition in Turkey need to question themselves. We don’t want that this wrong decision is repeated again,” he said.
Questions Were Not Answered
Turkey Chambers and Exchanges Association, Industry Council Chairman Mr.Abdülkadir Konukoğlu and Gaziantep Industry Chamber’s Chairman Mr.Adil Konukoğlu didn’t answered our questions directed through their press counsellors about how right was to organize a China Home Textile Exhibition in Turkey and what would be the effects of the exhibition on local manufacturers.
Precautions Were Taken in 43 Categories
As a consequence of the applications submitted by professional organizations representing the Turkish Textile industry in 2005, when China started to be a treat for world markets, a crucial protection precaution was implemented for the textile product imports realized from China in 43 categories. As per the inspections conducted by the Import General Directorate, it was concluded that the market equilibrium was demolished crucially due to the increase of the Chinese products and the constant development of the trade was under treat, and the local production’s share decreased due to increased imports. As a result of the senior association of European textile manufacturers, Euratex’s pressures, European Union signed an agreement with China and placed a limitation on the imports of textile and apparel product in 10 categories till the end of 2007. United States not having taken any precautions against the Chinese invasion in textile could not prevent China to increase its market share in women socks to 75% in three years starting from 2005.
Chinese Products Damages our Image
ITHIB Chairman, Mr.Ismail Gülle states that China conducts an improper trade policy and says “China organizes exhibitions in several countries including Turkey within the scope of this policy and introduces its own products.” He continued as follows: “In countries being member of World Trade Organization, you cannot forbid this. Thanks to the legislations brought into action 2 years ago, you could limit the imports event if you could not forbid. Some manufacturers violated this by importing Chinese products over other countries. Chinese products are preferred because they are cheap. How do you manufacture for cheap? By stealing from the material and manufacturing below the standard. Thus, cheap products imported from China are not quality, not healthy and includes carcinogenic agents.”
“Quality must be the priority for local manufacturers, and then should come price compatibility,” said Gülle and continued: “We are the second largest home textile manufacturers. We would be providing poor quality product both to the local and international market with the poor quality products to be imported from China. This would consequently damage the image of Turkish manufacturers both in the local and international arena. Our manufacturers serving in the home textile field should act by considering our country’s image and the consumer. This is a matter of consciousness. Such an exhibition will influence Turkey in long-term even if not in short-term and will damage the local market.”
China Exhibition is a Big Mistake
İTKİB Chairman, Mr.Hikmet Tanrıverdi informed that the growth trend continues for over 10 years for the Turkish textile and continued his words as follows: “Within this period of time, we were able to survive the economic crisis experience both in our most important market Europe and in the world with minimum damage. The Turkish ready wear and textile industry has a special place in the world with its designs determining the fashion and trends and its high technology. The attempts made in our industry carried our country to a position where the whole world follows us. We made a transition from a contract manufacturing country to a difference creating country with its designs. As the ready wear industry, we close the year 2013 with an export figure of 17.4 billion dollars thanks to the efforts of our thousands of employees and our entrepreneurs seeking to expand the present market and find new markets. While having such positive developments, the fact that an exhibition owned by China and full of Chinese exhibitors is organized in Turkey is a big mistake. Our country has been fighting for years in order to prevent the damages and harms that the imports done from the People’s Republic of China will lead in our country,” he said.
This Mistake Should not be Repeated
Tanrrıverdi reflected his reaction for the China home textile exhibition as follows: “ It is not acceptable and understandable to let the Chinese get the added value and export that our companies can create in an era that we have so many unemployed people and that we have no other option than growing with production oriented policy”, and he continued: “Turkey needs to develop new policies against China attracting foreign investors to his country with low employment opportunities and thus, we have difficulties to understand why this exhibition was allowed. In a sense, we kill the goose that lays the golden egg or in other words, we cut our own throat. This exhibition having nothing else to harm the Turkish economy is a real mistake Thus, authorities having allowed this China exhibition to be organized in Turkey needs to question themselves. We don’t want this wrong decision to be repeated again”.
