NCTO Welcomes Trump Decision to Renegotiate NAFTA

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer formally notified Congress that President Trump intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trilateral free trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

“The U.S. textile industry welcomes President Trump’s decision to renegotiate NAFTA,” said National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Auggie Tantillo.

“It is in America’s national interest to modernize the agreement,” Tantillo continued.

“Let me be clear: NAFTA is vital to the prosperity of the U.S. textile industry, and NCTO steadfastly supports continuing the agreement.  With that said, NAFTA can be improved to incentivize more textile and apparel jobs and production in the United States, Canada, and Mexico,” Tantillo added.

“Eliminating loopholes that shift production to third-party countries like China and devoting more customs enforcement resources to stop illegal third-country transshipments are two changes that would make the agreement better,” Tantillo said.

“We look forward to working with our industry partners throughout the NAFTA region to improve this agreement for all,” Tantillo finished.

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 565,000 in 2016.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $74.4 billion last year, a nearly 11% increase since 2009.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $26.3 billion in 2016.
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2 billion in 2015, the last year for which data is available.

NAFTA Textile and Apparel Trade Flows

U.S. Textile and Apparel Exports – In Thousand Dollars
2014 2015 2016
To Mexico $6,208,045 $6,510,071 $5,936,873
To Canada $5,595,784 $5,246,776 $5,160,422
NAFTA Total $11,803,828 $11,756,847 $11,097,296

 


U.S. Imports of Textiles and Apparel – In Thousand Dollars
2014 2015 2016
From Mexico $5,875,311 $5,776,274 $5,656,997
From Canada $2,103,254 $2,041,965 $1,991,173
NAFTA Total $7,978,565 $7,818,239 $7,648,170

 

U.S. Textiles and Apparel Trade Balance – In Thousand Dollars
2014 2015 2016
With Mexico $332,734 $733,797 $279,876
With Canada $3,492,530 $3,204,811 $3,169,249
NAFTA Total $3,825,263 $3,938,608 $3,449,126

Source for data in table: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel

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CONTACT:  Lloyd Wood
(202) 822-8028
lwood@ncto.org

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NCTO Praises Senate Confirmation of Lighthizer to USTR Post

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Senate confirmed Robert Lighthizer as United States Trade Representative (USTR) by an 82-14 vote on May 11, 2017.

“In my estimation, Ambassador Lighthizer is likely the most qualified individual ever to be confirmed to this important post,” said National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Auggie Tantillo as he noted Lighthizer’s previous service as Staff Director of the Senate Finance committee and as Deputy USTR, as well as his distinguished legal career specializing in international trade law.

“Between Ambassador Lighthizer and U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, President Trump has assembled a first-rate team to handle trade and manufacturing matters,” Tantillo continued.

“The U.S. textile industry is excited to work with Secretary Ross and Ambassador Lighthizer to fashion policy that will lead to more U.S. textile production, investment and jobs,” Tantillo added.

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers. 

·       U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 565,000 in 2016. 

·       The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $74.4 billion last year, a nearly 11% increase since 2009. 

·       U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $26.3 billion in 2016. 

·       Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2 billion in 2015, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT:  Lloyd Wood
(202) 822-8028
lwood@ncto.org

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Textile Industry Comments on Causes of Significant U.S. Trade Deficits; Urges Trump Administration to Take Remedial Action to Boost U.S. Production & Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC – Four U.S. textile trade associations – the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA), Narrow Fabrics Institute (NFI), and United States Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI) – outlined causes of the $95 billion U.S. trade deficit in textiles and apparel and suggested remedial actions for the Trump administration to boost U.S. production and jobs in joint comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) on May 10, 2017.

In addition, NCTO’s Upholstery Fabrics Committee (UFC) submitted a separate statement detailing the reasons for the U.S. trade deficit in upholstery fabrics, focusing on the imbalance with China in particular.

“A trade deficit study like this should have been initiated years ago,” said NCTO President and CEO Auggie Tantillo as he praised President Trump for ordering the review.

“If America is to reverse its trade-related red ink and create more jobs, policymakers must have a better understanding of the policies and economic factors responsible for driving production offshore,” Tantillo added.

The joint NCTO, AFMA, NFI, and USIFI comments as well as the separate UFC statement were submitted in response a notice for public comments issued by the DOC and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) pursuant to Executive Order 13786 signed by President Trump on March 31, 2017.  The order directed those agencies to prepare an omnibus report on significant trade deficits.  The Federal Register notice for public comments is at 82 FR 16721 and is dated April 5, 2017 (DOC 2017-0003). 

NCTO, AFMA, NFI, and USIFI also were signatories to comments submitted by the Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement (MTE) to DOC urging the United States to continue to treat the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a nonmarket economy (NME) country under U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty law. 

“China’s widespread use of nonmarket economic activities is one of the biggest drivers of America’s trade deficit,” Tantillo said.

DOC’s notice for the NME comments (ITA-2017-0002) was issued as part of the its less-than-fair-value investigation of certain aluminum foil imports from the PRC.

For more information about the U.S. textile industry, please consult the 2017 State of the U.S. Textile Industry address delivered by 2016 NCTO Chairman Robert “Rob” H. Chapman, III at NCTO’s 14th Annual Meeting on March 23, 2017 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC.  Chapman’s speech outlined (1) U.S. textile supply chain economic, employment and trade data as well as (2) the 2017 policy priorities of NCTO members. 

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers. 

·       U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 565,000 in 2016. 

·       The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $74.4 billion last year, a nearly 11% increase since 2009. 

·       U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $26.3 billion in 2016. 

·       Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2 billion in 2015, the last year for which data is available.

Download Release

CONTACT:  Lloyd Wood
(202) 822-8028
lwood@ncto.org

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