At a hearing held by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Ames, Iowa, NCC President/CEO Mark Lange presented testimony on the current situation regarding cotton trade with China and the impacts of China’s cotton policies.

During a hearing covering a range of agricultural products, Lange stressed the importance to U.S. cotton of open and transparent market access.

He noted that China stands in stark contrast to other cotton-importing countries by closely controlling their imports.

The testimony also described China’s current policies for supporting prices and building government reserves. While the build-up of government stocks has provided some short-term support to world prices, the longer-term implications of the policies are very concerning.

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Lange testified that by supporting cotton prices at levels well above manmade fiber, China’s policies are having a detrimental effect on demand as cotton is losing market share to polyester and other synthetic fibers.

He concluded by cautioning the Commission that the “uncertainty with Chinese policy has the entire cotton world on edge.”

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The full NCC testimony is on the NCC’s website at www.cotton.org/issues/2013/upload/13langetestuscc.pdf.

The Commission was created by Congress in 2000 with the mandate to monitor, investigate and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.