Vietnam agreement blasted

WASHINGTON — Roger Milliken, ceo of Milliken & Co. and co-chair of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, charged that the U.S. government's new bilateral trade agreement on textiles with Vietnam will give the emerging nation "an enormous share" of the U.S. market.

Under the agreement, signed April 25, Vietnam will be allowed to nearly double textiles imports to the United States from $952 million in 2002 to $1.7 billion this year. The country's exports are largely for apparel goods.