President Trump Announces Intention to Appoint NCTO Vice Chairman Don Bockoven to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations

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WASHINGTON, DC – On September 25, President Trump announced his intention to appoint 2018-19 National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) Vice Chairman Don Bockoven to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) for a four-year term.  Bockoven is the President & CEO of Leigh Fibers and ICE Recycling, companies based in Wellford and Lake City, South Carolina respectively. 

“NCTO is very appreciative of this announcement. Don Bockoven is highly respected leader in the U.S. textile sector,” said NCTO President & CEO Auggie Tantillo as he thanked President Trump for his appointment of Bockoven to the ACTPN on behalf of the U.S. textile industry.

“Because the textile supply chain from fiber production to finished apparel and sewn products is very trade-sensitive, the U.S. textile industry is grateful for the opportunity to have a voice in formulating America’s trade policy,” Tantillo added, noting that nearly 40 percent of duties collected by the U.S. government are on textile-related goods.

The ACTPN is appointed by the President of the United States and is the principal trade advisory committee which provides overall policy advice on trade matters to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Established by Congress under the Trade Act of 1974, the committee provides information and advice with respect to U.S. negotiating objectives and bargaining positions before entering into trade agreements, on the operation of any trade agreement once entered into, and on other matters arising in connection with U.S. trade policy. The ACTPN considers trade policy issues in the context of the overall national interest.

Leigh Fibers maintains over a million square feet of space dedicated to fiber reprocessing, research and development, quality control, warehousing and administration and is capable of handling over 350 million pounds of recycled fiber annually.

ICE Recycling custom designs plans for businesses to divert their waste products away from landfills, specializing in carbon footprint reduction, bailing, grinding and packaging of recyclable materials for repurposing in future manufacturing projects.

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers. 

·       U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 550,500 in 2017. 

·       The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $77.9 billion in 2017. 

·       U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $28.6 billion in 2017. 

·       Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.4 billion in 2016, the last year for which data is available.

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

NCTO Welcomes the Official Launch of the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network

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WASHINGTON, DC – The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) congratulates the state of Rhode Island and its textile and apparel industry for the official launch of the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network (RITIN).  The Slater Mill Museum in Pawtucket was the site of the event.

At the launch, RITIN unveiled its new website and held an expo featuring local manufacturers.  The activities dovetailed with NCTO’s We Make Amazing campaign promoting the U.S. textile industry, namely that Rhode Island’s textile industry is involved in research, development, design and manufacturing of an incredible array of end products and providing career opportunities with on-the-job training and advancement.

“Rhode Island companies make some of the world’s most amazing textiles and are an important cog in the U.S. textile and apparel supply chain, especially with respect to innovating and manufacturing textiles used by America’s military,” said NCTO President & CEO Auggie Tantillo.

Welcoming the official launch of RITIN, Tantillo added, “Thanks to e-commerce and other emerging technologies, the global textile and apparel sector is experiencing an era of rapid change.  Rhode Island is to be commended for being proactive in helping to ensure that its industry remains at the forefront in leveraging those changes to America’s benefit,” Tantillo added.

RITIN fosters collaboration among textile industry leaders, designers, academia and government with a mission to make Rhode Island a leader in advanced textile manufacturing and to develop solutions to recruit and train the sector’s future workforce.

Created in late 2016 by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the University of Rhode Island Business Engagement Center, RITIN operates with planning grants received in late 2017 from Real Jobs RI and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.   Polaris MEP, an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) provides RITIN’s program management.

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers.

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 550,500 in 2017.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $77.9 billion in 2017.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $28.6 billion in 2017.
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.4 billion in 2016, the last year for which data is available.

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

NCTO Applauds Continued IPR Enforcement Efforts; Renews Request for Added Tariffs on Chinese Textile and Apparel End Items

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WASHINGTON, DC – The National Council of Textile Organization’s (NCTO) applauds the Trump administration’s September 17 Section 301 tariff announcement as necessary to resolve longstanding trade inequities with China.  NCTO, however, strongly believes that the administration’s continued focus on added tariffs on upstream textile inputs while thus far refusing to impose tariffs on finished Chinese textile home furnishing and apparel is flawed.

“The Trump administration is right to confront China’s unfair trade practices.  Section 301 tariffs show the world that countries which serially abuse U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) will be held accountable,” said NCTO President & CEO Auggie Tantillo. 

“NCTO also thanks the Trump administration for removing various items from the latest retaliation list, including rayon fiber and certain dyes and chemicals.  The U.S. textile industry requested the exclusion of these products because they are not available domestically and China is the only significant source of supply,” Tantillo continued.

“Had U.S. textile manufacturers been forced to pay higher duties on the excluded items, it would raise costs for manufacturers making goods that must compete with like Chinese products,” Tantillo added.

“Despite yesterday’s announcement, the U.S. textile industry remains of the belief that the administration’s strategy to impose Section 301 tariffs on inputs is not the most effective approach to penalize China for its rampant abuses of intellectual property rights in our sector,” Tantillo said. 

“Added tariffs on finished Chinese textile home furnishings and apparel is the most effective sanction the United States could impose on China because like products from the NAFTA and CAFTA regions using U.S.-made textile inputs immediately become more competitive, thereby incentivizing the reshoring textile manufacturing jobs,” Tantillo explained as he referred to NCTO’s public comments filed on May 11 requesting Section 301 tariffs on Chinese textile and apparel end products. 

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers. 

·       U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 550,500 in 2017. 

·       The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $77.9 billion in 2017. 

·       U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $28.6 billion in 2017. 

·       Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.4 billion in 2016, the last year for which data is available.

# # #

DOWNLOAD RELEASE

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