Chinese textile importers say they will ask the government to investigate soybean and cotton from the United States to protest the US quota on Chinese socks.

A senior official from China Chamber of Commerce for Imports and Exports of Textile said Sunday that the US government had officially imposed a quota on socks imported from China.

He stated that the discriminatory policy violates conditions set in the legal documents for China's WTO entry and US domestic trade rules.

Earlier, US textile groups complained that sock imports are seriously disrupting the US market.

Reacting to the move, the Chinese government warned on Thursday it would take "further action" within the WTO framework.

The new quotas on more than 42 million pairs of Chinese socks came into effect on the 28th of October and will last for one year.

(CRI.com November 2, 2004)