China’s Predatory Trade Practices Hurting U.S. Textile Industry, Western Hemisphere Co-Production Chain

China’s Predatory Trade Practices Hurting U.S. Textile Industry, Western Hemisphere Co-Production Chain

By Kristi Ellis

China’s unfair trade practices, ranging from rampant intellectual property theft to state sanctioned export subsidies, to the egregious abuse of forced labor in the production of cotton and cotton apparel for well-known global apparel brands and retailers has had a chilling effect on the U.S. textile industry and U.S. trading partners, particularly those in the Western Hemisphere.

The far-reaching impact of China’s illegal practices and its race to dominance as a global supplier of consumer products came under scrutiny at a recent House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on Dec. 2, titled “Supporting U.S. Workers, Businesses, and the Environment in the Face of Unfair Chinese Trade Practices.”

NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas, in testimony before the committee, outlined China’s rise to dominance of global textile and apparel production and its adverse impact on the U.S. textile industry, as well as ways to strengthen onshoring and nearshoring of supply chains, and recommendations on the critical policies needed to address these illegal trade practices and rectify inequities in the country’s trade policies.

“China continues to dominate the global textile and apparel market, including our U.S. market through illegal subsidies, rampant IPR theft and other predatory trade practices,” Glas told lawmakers in her opening remarks. “This has cost hundreds of thousands of domestic jobs here in the United States and undermined critical production chains like personal protective equipment (PPE).”

“If I were to offer one overarching recommendation today, we need to hold China accountable and ensure our trade policies are keeping pace to address the rapidly emerging predatory challenges we are facing from China and others,” she added.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), chairman of the powerful trade subcommittee, said in his opening remarks, “Instead of joining other market-based world economies, China has doubled down on its state-driven economic model.  Economists now describe this phenomenon as the ‘China shock,’ which has had devastating and sustained impacts on U.S. workers and businesses across our country,” Blumenauer said.

“More broadly, China continues to demonstrate that it refuses to play by the rules.  China will exploit loopholes wherever they exist.  We’ve given too much of a free pass to China over the years – it’s now time to take these issues seriously and take a more aggressive approach,” he stressed.

Glas said China’s “abusive environmental and labor record is on full display in our sector and has been well documented.”

Egregious & Illegal Use of Forced Labor in China

China makes up 44 percent of U.S. imports of textile and apparel products, she noted. One in five garments coming into the U.S. from China are made with forced labor from Xinjiang “with the worst human rights abuses imaginable,” she noted.

Between 2017-2019, the Chinese government has forcefully transferred an estimated 800,000 to 1.8 million Uyghur Muslims from their homes in Xinjiang to detention centers and factories throughout China forced to manufacture products for international sale under forced labor conditions, according to numerous reports and international and domestic news outlets, Glas said in written testimony submitted to the committee.

Given that 20 percent of global cotton production is sourced from Xinjiang, tainted apparel and textiles made with forced Uyghur labor is a serious problem for the U.S. and the world.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO), effectively a ban on cotton and cotton products coming from the Xinjiang region in China, but the agency lacks the resources to inspect and stop a majority of goods from Xinjiang from entering the U.S. market, Glas told the committee.

“These items are bleeding into our supply chains and making it to our store shelves and into our closets,” Glas noted in her opening remarks.

Section 321 De Minimis Loophole

“Some of these products are making their way with the press of a button to our doorstep using the Section 321 de minimis loophole that allows these goods to come in duty free—not just evading China 301 duties, but all duties—from China and elsewhere with little scrutiny by U.S. Customs on these products,” she continued.

The United States provides a duty exemption for goods valued at less than $800 in retail value if imported by one person on one day.

Of note, the de minimis exemption was raised from $200 in 2016 under the U.S. Customs reauthorization legislation.  The current application of de minimis provides exemptions on base MFN tariffs, as well as Section 301 tariffs, such as those currently in place against imports from mainland China. Use of this exemption has skyrocketed alongside the growth of direct‑to‑consumer e‑commerce, which has further accelerated due to the COVID‑19 pandemic.

De Minimis exemptions are a loophole that allows tainted goods to be imported into the U.S. market duty free virtually unchecked and undermines carefully constructed textile and apparel rules of origin in CAFTA-DR and other free trade agreement and trade preference partners.

Blumenauer took note of Glas’ remarks and called out her reference to the de minimis problem.

“Ms. Glas has noted the example of Shein [a Chinese e-commerce conglomerate that imports billions of dollars of apparel to the U.S.]. This Chinese company has developed a business model to exploit the de minimis provision in U.S. law to avoid paying any costs or go through oversight at the U.S. border, all of which undercuts U.S. companies playing by the rules,” Blumenauer said.

“Shein is also part of the Chinese textile industry that benefits from the deplorable treatment and forced labor of Uyghurs and other minorities in the Xinjiang region of China.  Lack of oversight at U.S. borders makes it even more difficult for CBP to intercept these shipments,” he noted.

Blumenauer pointed to a roundtable he attended on the issue, nothing that he was made aware of the fact that some 2 million packages are shipped into the U.S. each day under de minimis waivers. He also noted that one witness suggested as many as 6 million packages per day are coming into the U.S. market under the Section 321 waivers.

“These issues with de minimis and forced labor are key areas of importance for me and ones that I intend to legislate on in the coming months,” Blumenauer said.

Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) asked the hearing witnesses what they considered would be the most practical end expeditious solution to addressing China’s illegal practices.

“In terms of things in our trajectory that we can get done very quickly, closing the de minimis loophole is one and effectively banning the cotton and cotton products coming from Xinjiang,” Glas said. I do not believe we have given CBP the resources to effectively administer the WRO. We should be holding daily press conferences on stopping shipments coming in because that will help recalibrate supply chains both here to the U.S. and to our Western Hemisphere partners.”

China’s Predatory Practices Hit CAFTA-DR Countries

“These predatory practices have not only harmed U.S. manufacturers and workers, but also drastically impacted our valued political and economic allies in the Western Hemisphere,” Glas said.

“For example, the CAFTA-DR-U.S. co-production chain for textile and apparel supports over 1 million jobs and has been a critically important and a deeply economically impactful agreement, despite the headwinds from China’s increased access to our markets during the agreement’s existence,” she said.

The main driver behind the stability in the face of the China juggernaut is the yarn forward rule of origin, Glas said.

“This unique investment-based rule ties lucrative duty-free access to the U.S. market and our consumers to ensure investment in yarn, fabric and cut and sew production. Simply put, it means the agreement requires the signatories of the agreement gain the job benefits of the agreement.”

“Onshoring and nearshoring are happening. Key CAFTA-DR countries have seen exports up anywhere from 33 to 56 percent, outpacing major Asian exporters, and more investment in yarn, fabrics and apparel production will be announced soon,” she added.

Glas told the committee that apparel brands and retailers importing product to the U.S. from China are seeking “so-called relief [such as weaking the rules of origin in CAFTA-DR] to give Chinese yarns and fabrics and other countries that are not signatories of the agreement, backdoor access to the CAFTA-DR market.”

“These Trojan Horse ideas must be rejected out of hand because they hurt U.S. jobs and those in the region and reward other countries,” she noted.

In one of the liveliest exchanges during the question-and-answer session with the committee, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) called on retailers and apparel brands, some of whom have complained that the ban on cotton and cotton products from China is raising prices on imported goods to the U.S. and said they should shift more production to the U.S. and Western Hemisphere.

“The [U.S.] textile industry is very concerned about what China is doing. We’ve gone to China for cheaper goods,” Suozzi said.

He said the U.S. should close the U.S. market to imported goods from the Xinjiang region, something that could be helped by passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevent Act (which the House passed last week).

“We should say that any goods coming from the Xinjiang region are presumed to be made with forced labor,” Suozzi said.

“Concerns from industry and others that this will make the cost of T-shirts and pants go up and be passed on to the consumer, my initial reaction to that is: “It’s too damn bad.”

“We have to hold them accountable for the way they are treating human beings in their country,” Suozzi added.

Glas agreed with Suozzi’s recommendations, noting that she is a commissioner on the U.S. -China Economic and Security Review Commission, and pointing to a recommendation from the commission this year to ban all products coming from Xinjiang for importation to the U.S. market.

“Seventy percent of U.S. textile, fiber, yarn and fabrics go to our Western Hemisphere trading partners,” Glas said. “We have one of the best cotton growing industries in world. There is transparency in our supply chains here and in the hemisphere because we have a strong rule of origin under our free trade agreements.”

“We are already starting to see opportunities coming to our hemisphere. Trade is up from some of the Northern Triangle countries by 56 percent over the last two years because Asian supply chains are breaking down,” Glas added. I do think there are retailers who are trying to de-risk out of Asia given the pervasiveness of the Xinjiang cotton issues. Our market is open here in the United States and we’re open for business in the Western Hemisphere. This is a huge opportunity to onshore and nearshore these critical production chains.”

Glas outlined key policy recommendations to the committee, including:

  • Enact tax incentives and other targeted critical investments to strengthen Western Hemisphere trade relationships and re-shore manufacturing
  • Close the Section 321 De Minimis Tariff Loophole
  • Step up enforcement of forced labor of Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
  • Firmly maintain Section 301 penalty duties on China for finished textiles and apparel products
  • Immediately pass the MTB to help manufacturers with a limited list of critical inputs not made in the U.S. and review/close the mechanism in the MTB renewal which allows for finished products
  • Strengthen buy-American practices for PPE and other essential products
  • Block expansion of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to include textile and apparel products
  • Use trade enforcement in free trade agreements to mitigate transshipment schemes by unscrupulous importers seeking to illegally circumvent duties

NCTO President & CEO Kim Glas Testifies on Supporting U.S. Industry in Face of Unfair Chinese Trade Practices at House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC—NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas is testifying today at a hearing on “Supporting U.S. Workers, Businesses, and the Environment in the Face of Unfair Chinese Trade Practices” before the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee at 10:00 a.m. ET.

In written testimony submitted to the committee, Glas outlines China’s rise to dominance of global textile and apparel production and its adverse impact on the U.S. textile industry, details ways to strengthen onshoring and nearshoring of supply chains, and provides recommendations on the critical policies needed to address these illegal trade practices and rectify inequities.

“China holds the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading purveyor of illegal trade practices that are designed to unfairly bolster a blatantly export-oriented economy,” NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas says. “These predatory practices take many forms, from macroeconomic policies that grant across-the-board advantages to their manufacturers, to industry specific programs intended to dominate global markets in targeted areas. The U.S. textile industry has been a longstanding victim of China’s predatory export practices.”

“China’s virtually unlimited and unrealistic pricing power coupled with its subsidies and lack of enforceable labor and environmental standards strips benefits and undermines policy objectives throughout the U.S. free trade and preference program structure,” Glas further notes.

“A program of maximum pressure must be developed and fully enforced to reconfigure textile and apparel sourcing patterns that currently place an unhealthy and heavily weighted dependance on China,” Glas adds. “With a strong trade policy holding China accountable, the opportunities are ripe to unlock further domestic and regional investment to bolster this critical textile and apparel production chain because of the important rules of origin for this sector.  We can nearshore more production, help address the migration crisis, and assist in addressing the urgent issue of climate change and create a win-win-win for workers in the United States, workers in the region, and consumers.”

Glas outlines key policy recommendations to the committee, including:

  • Enact tax incentives and other targeted critical investments to strengthen Western Hemisphere trade relationships and re-shore manufacturing
  • Close the Section 321 De Minimis Tariff Loophole
  • Step up enforcement of forced labor of Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
  • Firmly maintain Section 301 penalty duties on China for finished textiles and apparel products
  • Immediately pass the MTB to help manufacturers with a limited list of critical inputs not made in the U.S. and review/close the mechanism in the MTB renewal which allows for finished products
  • Strengthen buy-American practices for PPE and other essential products
  • Block expansion of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to include textile and apparel products
  • Use trade enforcement in free trade agreements to mitigate transshipment schemes by unscrupulous importers seeking to illegally circumvent duties

Please view the full written testimony by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas here.

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

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 530,000 in 2020.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $64.4 billion in 2020.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $25.4 billion in 2020.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.38 billion in 2019, the last year for which data is available.

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Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org  |  202.684.3091

NCTO President & CEO Kim Glas Testifies at U.S. Trade Representative’s Hearing on Proposed 301 Tariff List

WASHINGTON, DC – National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas is testifying at a public hearing today in support of the administration’s efforts to crack down on China’s abuse of intellectual property rights through the use of the Section 301 mechanism, while also calling on the administration to include finished apparel and home furnishings in any retaliatory tariffs against China.

Glas is joining several other NCTO member companies today to testify at a U.S. Trade Representative hearing as part of the administration’s consideration of the Tranche 4 of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports from China.

“If the United States truly wants to resolve China’s rampant IPR abuse, pillar sectors of the Chinese economy will need to be included on the 301-retaliation list,” Glas said in prepared remarks for today’s USTR hearing. “Leaving sectors that are highly sensitive within China’s economy off the list has actually weakened U.S. leverage throughout the negotiating process, delaying a long overdue remedy to this systemic trade problem.”

“To effectively respond to China’s predatory practices in our sector, we believe the administration needs to address the exports from China that are disrupting our market and distorting trade: exports of end items to the United States,” Glas said.

Finished apparel, home furnishings and other made-up textile goods equate to 93.5 percent of U.S. imports from China in our sector, while fiber, yarn and fabric imports from China only represent 6.5 percent, according to government data.

NCTO is “pleased the proposed Tranche 4 includes finished imported items from China, which have the most significant impact on U.S. employment, production and investment,” Glas said.

“We believe this move will lead to the re-shoring of production to the United States and the Western Hemisphere production platform—and will also address and mitigate China’s rampant trade distortions,” she added.

However, Glas said the industry has serious concerns that certain inputs “already vetted by the administration and removed from previous retaliatory tariff lists are back on this list for proposed duties. These inputs include but are not limited to: machinery, dyes and chemicals and textile components not available domestically, like rayon staple fiber.”

“Adding tariffs on imports of manufacturing inputs that are not made in the U.S. in effect raises the cost for American companies and makes them less competitive with China,” Glas said, calling for the earlier exclusion reviews to be upheld. In addition, Glas also urged the U.S. government to institute a fair, transparent and expeditious exclusion system for all retaliation tranches.

 

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 594,147 in 2018.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $76.8 billion in 2018.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $30.1 billion in 2018.
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.0 billion in 2017, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT: Kristi Ellis

(202) 684-3091

www.ncto.org

NCTO & Member Companies Testify at U.S. International Trade Commission Hearing on Proposed 301 Tariff List

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and several of its member companies are set to testify at the U.S. Trade Representative’s nearly two-week long hearing on the proposed Section 301 tariff list as part of the administration’s ongoing review and consideration of the Tranche 4 of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports from China.

Daniel Nation, Director of Government Relations for Parkdale Mills, a member of NCTO, will kick off the U.S. textile industry’s testimony on the first day of the hearing.

China’s rampant abuse of intellectual property rights and intellectual property theft has spanned decades at the direct expense of the U.S. textile industry and its supply chain, largely contributing to the U.S. trade deficit with China in textile and apparel products—totaling $46.5 billion in 2018—and the loss of 1 million manufacturing jobs in this critical sector.

“There is little doubt that China’s extreme position in the global textile and apparel marketplace has been advanced by an elaborate system of illegal practices, that include state sponsored subsidies, unethical labor and environmental practices and theft of intellectual property,” Nation said in prepared remarks for today’s USTR hearing. “Consequently, Parkdale supports the existing Section 301 case against China.”

However, Nation stressed the effectiveness of the administration’s case has been “greatly diminished through the omission” of finished textile and apparel products from the various retaliatory tariff lists.

“Including finished textile and apparel products on the 301 retaliation list would greatly enhance the administration’s leverage in the ongoing negotiations and help redirect trade in this sector to the Western Hemisphere,” Nation said. The Western Hemisphere is a top export market for the U.S. textile industry, representing $15.7 million in textile and apparel exports.

“NCTO is pleased the proposed Tranche 4 includes finished imported items from China, which have the most significant impact on U.S. employment, production and investment,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas, who is scheduled to testify at the hearing on June 20. “We believe this move will lead to the re-shoring of production to the United States and the Western Hemisphere production platform.  It’s critical we address and mitigate China’s rampant trade distortions.”

“While NCTO members support the inclusion of finished products in Tranche 4, we are seriously concerned that certain inputs already vetted by the administration and removed from previous retaliatory tariff lists are back on this list for proposed duties,” Glas noted. “Adding tariffs on imports of manufacturing inputs that are not made in the U.S. such as certain chemicals, dyes, machinery and rayon staple fiber in effect raises the cost for American companies and makes them less competitive with China.  We firmly believe the integrity of the earlier exclusion process should be upheld.”

“We also urge the U.S. government to institute a fair, transparent and expeditious exclusion system for all retaliation tranches,” Glas added.

“Lastly, we want to flag that the administration’s 301 efforts are being undermined by shipments under the $800 Section 321 de minimis threshold, which are not subject to the retaliatory tariffs – or any tariffs.  Section 321 is a substantial and growing loophole that gives China backdoor duty-free access to the U.S. market at a time when the administration is spearheading efforts to address China’s unfair trade practices,” Glas said.  “This should be rectified both in the 301 and broader context.”

NCTO and its member companies are strongly encouraging the USTR’s office and President Trump to adopt the following recommendations:

  • enact the proposed 25% penalty tariffs on finished apparel items and other sewn products;
  • maintain the previous product input exemptions that were vetted by the U.S. government and granted and excluded from previous tranches;
  • institute a transparent, fair and expeditious exclusion system for all tranches;
  • and apply 301 retaliatory tariffs to Section 321 de minimis shipments.

 

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 594,147 in 2018.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $76.8 billion in 2018.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $30.1 billion in 2018.
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.0 billion in 2017, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT: Kristi Ellis

(202) 684-3091

www.ncto.org

 

NCTO Testifies at U.S. International Trade Committee Hearing on USMCA

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) held a public hearing on November 15-16 in Washington, D.C. as part of its investigation of the likely impact of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the U.S. economy.

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President & CEO Auggie Tantillo testified on Panel 4, General Manufacturing, on Friday, November 16, the hearing’s second day.

Tantillo’s testimony as prepared for delivery is below:

Testimony of Auggie Tantillo, President and CEO
National Council of Textile Organizations

U.S. International Trade Commission Hearing on the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement  

November 16, 2018

On behalf of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), thank you for the opportunity to provide input regarding the recently negotiated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).  NCTO represents the full spectrum of the U.S. textile sector, from fibers to yarns to fabrics to finished products, as well as suppliers of machinery, chemicals, and other products and services with a stake in the prosperity of our industry.  The entire U.S textile manufacturing chain, from fiber through finished sewn products, employs 550,000 workers nationwide.  In 2017, the industry manufactured nearly $78 billion in output, while exporting more than $28 billion of our production.

I want to preface my remarks by stating that NCTO has not yet adopted a formal position on USMCA.  We have produced a detailed internal analysis on the agreement for our members and have solicited their feedback.  Once we have reviewed input from our membership, the NCTO Board will come to final position that we will then make public.

With that said, it is important to note that the United States, Canada, and Mexico have built a vibrant and prosperous textile production chain over the 24-year life of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  In 2017, total textile and apparel trade between the three countries was approximately $20 billion.  U.S. exports accounted for more than $11 billion of this trade, with Canada and Mexico serving as our two largest export markets worldwide.

These figures compare to just $7 billion in textile trade between the three countries in 1993, the year prior to NAFTA’s implementation.  An understanding of this data validates that the current, yarn-forward structure embedded in NAFTA has been highly successful, providing significant benefit to North American manufacturers throughout the entire textile production chain.

It is for this reason that NCTO is very pleased that the basic textile origin rules adopted originally in NAFTA were essentially reaffirmed in USMCA.  Further, we commend the three governments for creating a separate textile chapter in the new agreement as opposed to relegating textiles to an annex of the broader market access provisions.  A stand-alone chapter recognizes the sensitivities associated with trade in this sector and allows for unique provisions, such as separate and enhanced customs enforcement language over the original NAFTA.  Enforcement is critical in the textile sector as the lucrative duty-free benefits create enormous incentives for fraud.

In terms of changes to the original text, NCTO is very supportive of revisions that will require the use of USMCA-origin sewing thread, pocketing, narrow elastics, and coated fabrics in certain end items.  While there are transition periods associated with these new requirements, their ultimate inclusion should offer a boost for U.S. producers formerly left out of the origin rules in the original NAFTA.  We estimate the USMCA market to be $250 million annually for sewing thread for apparel applications and $70 million annually for pocketing.

We are also appreciative of a key change made in the Government Procurement Chapter of USMCA regarding the Kissell Amendment, which is a Buy American statute for textiles that applies to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  Kissell requires 100% U.S. content, with very limited exceptions, for purchases by the Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Regarding TSA procurement, Kissell has a problematic loophole tied to NAFTA that has allowed Mexico to supply these contracts.  As a result, under the terms of NAFTA, Mexico can supply TSA uniforms made from Mexican fiber, yarn, and/or fabric.  The TSA Mexico loophole translates to a significant weakening of U.S. Buy American statutes.  Noting that DHS spent $34 million on clothing and textiles for TSA in FY2017, closing the Kissell loophole was a substantive change from NCTO’s perspective.

While all the items mentioned to this point are clear improvements to the original NAFTA, there was one key area of disappointment, from our perspective, with USMCA.  NAFTA incorporated a major exemption to the yarn-forward origin requirement through a system of Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs). TPLs allow products to be shipped duty free among free trade partner countries even though the components within the product are sourced from countries that are not signatories to the agreement.

While NAFTA TPLs have annual limits that cap their impact to a degree, more than $641 million in textile and apparel TPL shipments entered the U.S. last year.  As such, eliminating the TPLs was a primary focus of NCTO’s in the NAFTA renegotiation.  While USMCA did reduce the size of some specific TPLs, the reductions will not cut into existing trade levels.  This outcome is frustrating given the President’s stated goals of increasing benefits for U.S. manufacturers and eliminating provisions that have helped non-signatory countries, such as China, take advantage of tariff preferences intended for North American producers.

Conclusion

As stated earlier, NCTO is not yet in a position to communicate a formal position on USMCA.  We hope to have a decision finalized soon, which will be shared with both the Administration and Congress as soon as we complete our review process.

Nonetheless, it is accurate to state that in an overarching fashion, the new agreement is an improvement over the original NAFTA in many areas.  This is certainly the case for U.S. manufacturers of component parts such as thread, pocketing, narrow elastics, and coated fabrics.  There is also a clear victory on the Kissell amendment and a strong upgrade in customs enforcement.  With our strong disappointment in the TPL outcome noted, we are also grateful for the Administration’s willingness to work with domestic manufacturers in an effort to improve this important agreement.

Thank you for this opportunity to provide input, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that you may have at this time.

[NCTO testimony as prepared for delivery ends]

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
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Textile Industry Files Comments on Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) filed public comments late yesterday afternoon in response to President Trump’s executive order directing the federal government to investigate violations and abuses of U.S. trade agreements.

“A thorough investigation of trade agreement abuses and violations is long overdue and we appreciate President Trump’s desire to finally review this important matter,” said NCTO President and CEO Auggie Tantillo.

“If America is to fix the systemic problems that plague the international trading structure and stop trade cheats from driving American production offshore, policymakers need a better understanding of the illegal or unfair trade tactics that are being used to hurt U.S. industry, including textiles,” Tantillo finished.

A notice for public comments (82 FR 29622) was issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on June 29, 2017 pursuant to Executive Order 13796 signed by President Trump on April 29, 2017. Documents associated with this matter are archived under Docket USTR-2017-0010.

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

NCTO CEO Testifies at USTR NAFTA Hearing, Outlines U.S. Textile Renegotiation Objectives

WASHINGTON, DC – National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President & CEO Auggie Tantillo testified at the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) hearing on Negotiating Objectives Regarding Modernization of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico held in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 27.

In his remarks as prepared for delivery, Tantillo outlined the U.S. textile industry’s NAFTA negotiating objectives:

“On behalf of the National Council of Textile Organizations, thank you for the opportunity to provide input as USTR develops its objectives for modernizing NAFTA.  NCTO represents the full spectrum of the U.S. textile sector, from fibers to yarns to fabrics to finished products, as well as suppliers of machinery, chemicals, and other products and services with a stake in the prosperity of our industry.  The entire U.S textile manufacturing chain, from fiber through finished sewn products, employs 565,000 workers nationwide.  In 2016, the industry manufactured over $74 billion in output, while exporting more than $26 billion of our production.

We strongly support President Trump’s intention to reopen NAFTA and agree that it can be updated and improved to significantly enhance U.S. textile production, exports, and employment.  The NAFTA region enjoys vibrant fiber, yarn, and fabric sectors in addition to cut and sew capabilities.  As a result, NCTO supports building on the successes of NAFTA through seeking reasonable improvements to the agreement, but not a cancellation thereof, due to the high level of supply chain integration that exists today.

This partnership is evidenced by robust trade flows.  The U.S. textile sector has a demonstrated capability of developing export markets within the NAFTA region.  In fact, Mexico and Canada are our two largest export markets, where U.S. textile and apparel exports topped $11 billion in 2016.  Furthermore, we maintain a positive trade balance in the sector with our NAFTA partners, achieving a $3.5 billion surplus last year.

NCTO does not foresee a need to reinstate tariffs on NAFTA-qualifying trade.  Instead, we recommend a thorough review of the rules of origin to ensure that lucrative tariff benefits are appropriately reserved for manufacturers within the region.  NAFTA is based on a yarn-forward rule of origin for textile and apparel trade, a main driver for the integration that has developed among the three countries.  Yarn forward was originally devised under NAFTA and is the accepted rule for the industry and the U.S. government in every free trade agreement (FTA) since because it reserves key benefits for manufacturers within the signatory countries.  It is also easier to enforce than a value-added rule.

Despite the logic of the yarn-forward structure, most U.S. FTAs, including NAFTA, also contain damaging loopholes in the textile rules of origin.  The most egregious example is tariff preference levels.  Tariff preference levels (TPLs) allow for products to be shipped duty free despite their components, representing the bulk of the value, being sourced from outside countries.  For example, a cotton top, made from Chinese yarn and fabric, can be cut and sewn in Mexico and shipped duty free to the United States.  Consequently, TPLs undermine benefits for NAFTA textile manufacturers, transferring them to non-signatories, such as China, who often use predatory trading practices and have made no market-opening concessions themselves.

Altogether, Mexico and Canada may ship nearly 236 million square meter equivalents of apparel, made-ups, and fabric and 12.8 million kilograms of yarn containing third-party inputs annually under the TPLs.  It is our strong recommendation that the NAFTA TPL regime be eliminated.

Beyond TPLs, there are other yarn-forward derogations, including assembly-only rules for certain garments.  These additional loopholes warrant analysis to determine whether they should be eliminated or adjusted to enhance the benefits for U.S. textile manufacturers under the agreement.   We also believe that there should be a review of certain buy-American concessions that were unnecessarily granted to our NAFTA partners.

As a final point, it is our view that there has been a systematic deemphasis of commercial fraud enforcement at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over the past 30 years.  CBP suffers from both a lack of resources and focus particularly considering the layering of new trade agreements and significant increase in imports over this time.  As a result, the benefits of NAFTA are being siphoned off by those willing and able to circumvent U.S. trade laws.  Our sector is especially prone to fraud, noting that textiles and apparel represent 40 percent of all U.S. duties collected, or $14 billion a year.  Clearly, improving NAFTA customs enforcement should be a major focus of this renegotiation.

In conclusion, we fully agree with President Trump that NAFTA can be improved through a set reasonable adjustments to the current text designed to enhance U.S. textile manufacturing and exporting.  Further, we believe that by closing unnecessary loopholes in the agreement and placing a greater emphasis on customs enforcement, all parties throughout the NAFTA region will benefit.  Doing so will help to build on the vibrant textile and apparel production chain in North America that has evolved under NAFTA.

Thank you for your consideration of our views, and NCTO looks forward to working with the Trump administration as the NAFTA modernization effort progresses.”

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

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U.S. Textile Industry Files Public Comments on NAFTA Renegotiation Objectives; Eager to Work with President Trump to Improve Deal

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) filed public comments with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) outlining the U.S. textile industry’s priorities in the forthcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  (The comments are pasted at the bottom of this release.)

“The U.S. textile industry welcomes President Trump’s decision to renegotiate NAFTA,” said NCTO Chairman William V. McCrary Jr., Chairman and CEO of William Barnet & Son, LLC, a synthetic fiber/yarn/polymer firm headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“It is in America’s national interest to modernize the agreement and NCTO is eager to work with President Trump to make it even better,” McCrary 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,” McCrary 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,” McCrary said.

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

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer formally notified Congress on May 18, 2017 that President Trump intended to renegotiate NAFTA.  This action triggered a request for public comments found at 82 FR 23699 and dated May 23, 2017 (Docket: USTR–2017–0006).  That public comment period closes today. 

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

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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.

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

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NCTO Welcomes U.S.-China MOU to Terminate Chinese Export Subsidies

2016 04 14 NCTO press statement on US China MOU to terminate Chinese export subsidies

 

April 14, 2016

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

 

PRESS STATEMENT

NCTO Welcomes U.S.-China MOU to Terminate Chinese Export Subsidies

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) applauded today’s announcement of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the United States and China with respect to an agreement by China to terminate export subsidies under its “Demonstration Bases-Common Services Platform”.

“We thank the Obama administration for working diligently to construct an arrangement to eliminate these subsidies which directly damage U.S. manufacturing jobs, output and investment,” said NCTO CEO & President Augustine Tantillo.

“There is no doubt that China’s rise to become the world’s largest exporter of textile and apparel products has been aided by a pervasive series of illegal state-sponsored subsidies,” Tantillo continued.

“These subsidies are clearly inconsistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, and they are unfair to domestic textile manufacturers and the hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers they employ,” Tantillo added.

“Our companies must play by free-market rules, and it is time that Chinese textile manufacturers do the same,” Tantillo concluded.

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

  • S. employment in the textile supply chain was 579,000 in 2015.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $76 billion last year, a nearly 14% increase since 2009.
  • S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel are up 38% over that same time period, reaching $27.75 billion in 2015.
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2 billion in 2014, the last year for which data is available.

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