out that even in the face of other economic giants, Bangladesh's labor is "cheaper than anywhere else in the world." While some smaller factories were documented making pay cuts and layoffs, most downsizing was essentially speculative – the orders for goods kept coming even after the MFA expired. In fact, Bangladesh's exports increased in value by about $500 million in 2006. However, poorer countries within the developed world, such as Greece and Portugal, are expected to lose out. During early 2005, textile and clothing exports from China to the West grew by 100% or more in many items, leading the US and EU to cite China's WTO accession agreement allowing them to restrict the rate of growth to 7.5% per year until 2008. In June, China agreed with the EU to limit the rate to 10% for 3 years. No such agreement was reached with the US, which imposed its own import growth quotas of 7.5% instead. When the EU announced their new quotas to replace the lapsed MFA, Chinese manufacturers accelerated their shipping of the goods intended for the European market. This used up a full year's quota almost immediately. As a result, 75 million items of imported Chinese garments were held in European ports in August 2005. A diplomatic resolution was reached at the beginning of September 2005 during Tony Blair's visit to China, putting an end to a situation the UK press had dubbed "Bra Wars". See also Quota Elimination Outward Processing Arrangement References External links BBC News Online: EU warns China on textile exports, 24 April 2005 New York Times: China to Limit Textile Exports to Europe, 11 June 2005 BBC News Online: EU and China reach textile deal, 5 September 2005 Dollars & Sense: Falling Off a Cliff: Millions of garment workers worldwide stand to lose their jobs with this year's changes in global textile trade rules September/October 2005 As regards the EU-China trade relations, see Paolo Farah (2006) Five Years of China’s WTO Membership. EU and US Perspectives about China’s Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism, Legal Issues of Economic Integration, Kluwer Law International, Volume 33, Number 3, pp. 263–304. Text of MFA from Stanford GATT Archive Text of MFA plus subsequent amendments etc from GATT Archive MultifibRearrangement BA Thesis Blog History of international trade Foreign relations of the European Union Textile industry International trade organizations