The United States and China have made "substantial progress" toward an agreement to rein in China's booming textile and clothing exports to the United States through the end of 2008, U.S. trade officials said on Wednesday.

They said the two sides also signed a short-term deal covering sock imports for the rest of this year.

"Our discussions this week have yielded substantial progress on a large number of issues. We look forward to meeting again soon," lead U.S. textile negotiator David Spooner said in a statement.

An agreement would relieve a sore spot in the U.S.-China trade relationship before President George W. Bush visits Beijing in the middle of this month.

This week's meetings in Washington were the fifth round of talks on a possible agreement governing Chinese textile and clothing shipments to the United States.

China's exports of those products to the United States jumped 54 percent in the first eight months of 2005 to nearly $17.7 billion, following the end of a global quota system last January 1.

Under China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, Washington can impose "safeguards" until the end of 2008 if China's textiles are shown to be disrupting the U.S. market. Those cap growth in exports at 7.5 percent a year.

The United States has already imposed safeguard curbs on imports of Chinese shirts, trousers, bras, underwear, yarn and other textile and clothing products.

To provide certainty for importers and domestic manufacturers, industry groups have pushed for a comprehensive deal similar to one negotiated by the European Union.

In a sign the United States and China could be on the verge of a pact, the Bush administration said it was delaying a decision on whether to impose safeguard curbs on certain shirts, blouses, skirts, pajamas and swimwear until November 8.

The US Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreement (CITA) said Wednesday it was extending a review of industry requests for quotas on four categories of Chinese garments -- blouses, skirts, pyjamas and swimwear.

The review on the four categories has been extended a week to November 8, said CITA, which also announced a fresh review to see whether shipments of Chinese towels should be subject to quotas.

Spooner said the two countries also signed an agreement on Tuesday that would extend a quota on sock imports through the end of 2005 by allowing China to ship an additional 10 million dozen pairs.

The Bush administration also announced it accepted an industry petition that could lead to curbs on cotton terry towels from China.

U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman (news, bio, voting record) told reporters on Tuesday the two countries were "inching closer" to an agreement, but were still working through key details, such as the number of products covered and annual growth rates for new quotas that would be imposed.

U.S. textile producers said the dearth of details about this week's talks could be a positive sign.

"Things have obviously been very, very quiet this week and maybe that means they're making progress," said Lloyd Wood, a spokesman for the American Manufacturers Trade Coalition.

The indication talks will resume soon "gives some optimism that both sides are reaching a deal that would address the concerns of the textile industry," Wood said.

Editor: Yan