Clothes retailers worry as 'bra wars' go on

Fashion retailers warned this afternoon that the EU's textile stand-off with China was hurting Irish businesses.

China has already exceeded limits on the amount of clothing it can import to the EU during 2005.

This left millions of Chinese-made garments now lie stranded in ports. EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson says he was doing everything he could to resolve the dispute.

However, Jim Whelan of the Fashion and Footwear Federation said his members wanted decisive action to be taken: “One of our bigger members has a container standing in the docks in China with about €250,000 of merchandise totally blocked that cannot be bought into the EU at all.”