Labor standards that protect basic worker rights, enhance workers’ job security, and improve their terms of employment may have the unintended effect of raising labor costs and undermining international competitiveness. Considering the potential tradeoffs between social objectives of labor standards and their economic competitiveness has taken on added urgency as textile- and clothing-exporting countries in Asia adjust to a sudden increase in global competition following the end of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA). Quota eliminations are expected to cause significant changes in world patterns of textile and clothing production and trade, with large expected gains for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India and potential losses for most other low-cost producers that are not protected with alternative favorable trade arrangements (USITC 2004, OECD 2003). Any shift in production will cause disproportionate job losses for women workers, especially in clothing production where they constitute around three quarters of employment.1 The PRC’s competitiveness in textiles and clothing stems from a combination of factors, including low labor costs. Less clear is the extent to which the PRC’s low labor costs are explained by weak labor laws.