A coalition of US textile, apparel, fiber production and labor interests petitioned the Bush administration Tuesday for limits on imports from China.

A safeguard petition covering categories 347 and 348, which are described as men's and boys' and women's and girls' cotton trousers, had been filed on Oct.8, the coalition announced at a press conference.

It also announced that nine additional petitions covering 13 more categories were expected to be filed in the coming days.

The ten threat-based safeguard petitions cover 15 of the 91 product categories on which US quotas will expire on January 1, 2005, it said.

It said that a further three petitions were expected to be filed to request an extension of the safeguards placed by the US government on December 24, 2003 on the five categories including knit fabric, bras and dressing gowns and robes..

The petitions were filed with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements(CITA), the coalition said.

CITA is a five-member interagency group comprised of representatives from the US Department of Commerce, State, Labor and Treasury as well as the Office of the US Trade Representative. At least three agencies must vote to approve any safeguard petition.

Once a safeguard petition is filed, CITA has 15 working days to accept or reject the petition on its technical merits. If the petition is accepted, a 30-day public comment then commences, followed by a 60-day CITA decision-making window.

If CITA approves a safeguard petition, the United States can limit Chinese exports in the safeguard categories to growth of only 7.5 percent above current levels next year.

The limitations can be imposed for only one year at a time but US manufacturers can petition for them to be re-imposed for succeeding years through 2008, according to the coalition.