A decision last week to delay action on requested trade protections for the textile industry must be followed up by a comprehensive agreement with China.

"The only good excuse for delaying decisions on the products where decisions were due is if the U.S. government is able to negotiate a comprehensive textile and apparel agreement with China in short order," said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, an industry group, in a statement.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements said it should decide by Aug. 31 whether Chinese exports in six categories have disrupted American markets. The categories are: men's and boys' wool trousers; dressing gowns and robes; brassieres; knit fabric; other synthetic filament fabric; and sweaters made of cotton and man-made fiber.

The United States' trade deficit with China is growing rapidly, especially in textiles. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel, the deficit was 54 percent greater in the first five months of this year than the same period last year. Chinese imports in some specific categories have seen astronomical increases. For example, imports of other synthetic filament fabric increased almost 11-fold in that five-month period. The industry asked for safeguards -- provisions which cap the amount by which Chinese imports in those categories would be allowed to grow from year to year -- in an attempt to stabilize the deficit and protect jobs. The industry and its workers deserve an answer.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was quoted in The Greenville News as saying the delay would give the government time to talk with industry representatives and lawmakers to see if there is interest in a broader textile agreement with China.

The answer is simple: Yes, there is. The task is to hammer out that agreement in a way that is fair to the domestic textile industry. That needs to happen soon.