Press Releases

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai Visits Glen Raven as USTR Seeks Input from Textile Sector on Domestic Supply Chain...

March 22, 2024

WASHINGTON –Glen Raven hosted United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai in an important visit to the company’s state-of-the-art yarn spinning manufacturing facility and headquarters for its Sunbrella® flagship brand in Burlington, N.C. followed by an industry supply chain roundtable today.

Ambassador Tai’s visit coincides with USTR’s Federal Register notice for public input to inform the administration’s development of trade and investment policy initiatives related to a domestic supply chain resilience plan.

USTR has highlighted domestic textiles as a critical part of the supply chain. The textile sector, which includes yarns, fabrics, apparel and other finished goods, will be part of its fact-finding investigation into shaping policy tools that could be deployed to enhance supply chain resilience. The office is requesting input on policies that are currently working well for these sectors, and those that are not working well, in advancing domestic supply chains.

“We are deeply honored to host Ambassador Tai at our Sunbrella headquarters and yarn-spinning facility in Burlington, North Carolina to demonstrate how the right trade policies can help bolster domestic manufacturing facilities such as ours, facilitate employment, and lead to the expansion and growth of this vital manufacturing sector,” said Glen Raven CEO Leib Oehmig. “We are appreciative of USTR’s review of the strategic textile sector as it diligently examines and shapes policies that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the entire U.S. textile industry.

During our tour, we highlighted the importance of Glen Raven’s contribution to our local communities and to the overall U.S. economy, while also underscoring the need for strong trade policies to maintain a vibrant domestic supply chain. Our industry has been navigating severe economic and global trade headwinds over the past several months and we sincerely appreciate Ambassador Tai’s commitment to gaining first-hand insight into the challenges confronting our industry in the global trade arena and continuing the dialogue we had here today.”

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas said, “We want to sincerely thank Ambassador Tai for visiting Glen Raven today. We believe USTR’s development of supply chain resilience policies is a strong step in the right direction for helping secure the U.S. textile supply chain into the future.”

The Ambassador’s visit to Glen Raven included a tour of the Sunbrella facilities, a design and innovation center, and a roundtable discussion with several other textile executives based in North Carolina who highlighted the significant impact of the sector to the U.S. economy.

Glen Raven, a family-owned company founded in 1880, operates five manufacturing facilities in North and South Carolina employing 2,500 people, including their joint venture with Shawmut Corporation. The company is currently in the process of scaling a $250 million multi-phase U.S. capacity expansion plan of its facilities and infrastructure to meet customer demand.

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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 501,755 in 2023.

·   The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $64.8 billion in 2023.

·   U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $29.7 billion in 2023.

·   Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.281.9305

Mar 22, 2024 Comments (0) Press Releases, Uncategorized

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NCTO CEO Tells U.S. International Trade Commission Unfair Trade Practices of 5 Asian Apparel Sourcing Countries Mirror Those of...

March 11, 2024

WASHINGTON – The rise in U.S. imports from five Asian apparel producing countries with ultra-low cost pricing structures and ties to China must be scrutinized closely to bring about a recalibration of U.S. trade policies and mitigate the damage to the vital domestic textile supply chain, National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas told the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).

Glas testified before the USITC today as part of research the Commission is conducting on the export competitiveness of Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. The findings will be included in a report titled “Apparel: Export Competitiveness of Certain Foreign Suppliers to the United States,” which the Commission will submit to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office.

“While the domestic textile industry is a key contributor to the U.S. economy and critical part of the military and public health industrial base, our sector is facing a crisis of historic proportions as the result of rapidly deteriorating market conditions coupled with unchecked foreign predatory trade practices and diminished customs enforcement activities,” Glas said in her testimony. “Building up to and coinciding with the economic depression that our industry is now facing has been the ascent to top supplier status of the five countries that are the subject of today’s hearing.

“This is no coincidence, and it is imperative to understand and document what makes them so competitive, as well as how this growth has impacted domestic production and the larger Western Hemisphere production chain, to inform the necessary U.S. policy response and recalibration,” she added.

“Unethical cost reduction practices and predatory trade activities plague global textile and apparel production and markets,” Glas said, pointing to the Rana Plaza garment complex disaster in Bangladesh in 2013 that killed over 1,100 people and injured 2,500, as well the most recent U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor released in September 2023, which listed four of the five countries currently under review.

To reverse the current trajectory of this import surge and stop the damage to the U.S. textile industry, Glas recommended the following:

  • Reject proposals to expand Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) product coverage to textiles or apparel
  • Close the De Minimis tariff loophole
  • Dramatically ramp up customs and trade remedy activities
  • Address predatory trade behaviors with effective penalties to deter unfair practices

See a link to the full testimony 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 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.281.9305

Mar 11, 2024 Comments (0) Press Releases, Testimony and Statements

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NCTO Releases Statement Welcoming Textile Enforcement Plan Outlined by Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas

January 31, 2024

WASHINGTON – National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued the following statement today welcoming a comprehensive textile enforcement plan outlined by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, following a meeting with several textile industry leaders.

The meeting came in response to increased calls for stepped up textile and apparel enforcement and penalties, as well as the use of the administration’s authorities to close the de minimis loophole hurting the domestic textile industry and its workers.

A readout of the meeting from the office of DHS Secretary Mayorkas can be found here.

Statement by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas:

“The U.S. textile industry greatly appreciated meeting with DHS Secretary Mayorkas and the senior leadership team on the unprecedented economic calamity facing this strategic supply chain. We discussed how the administration can immediately help our workers and industry.

The industry has lost eight plants in three months. Plants that survived the Great Depression, the Great Recession and COVID aren’t surviving the economic environment due to demand destruction exacerbated by unfair trade practices.

Our industry leaders outlined three critical issues for the Secretary:

  • Immediately step up all free trade agreement (FTA) enforcement and maximize penalties
  •  Immediately step up all UFLPA enforcement and maximize penalties
  • Close the de minimis loophole that is facilitating millions of unchecked packages a day into our market and hurting our industry

The Secretary has committed to working with NCTO and industry leaders on a 30-day immediate textile enforcement action plan. We look forward to working actively with the administration on the details of that plan and ensuring it meets all critical objectives for enforcement and deterrence.

We appreciate the Secretary’s engagement with us and the hard work ahead to ensure this critical resilient supply chain is here long into the future.”

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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 538,067 in 2022

·   The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.

·   U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.

·   Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

Jan 31, 2024 Comments (0) Press Releases, Uncategorized

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NCTO Issues Statement Supporting House China Select Committee Leaders’ Letter to Homeland Security Secretary, Urging Him to Strengthen Enforcement...

January 22, 2024

Washington, D.C.—National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued the following statement today in support of a letter from the chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the CCP, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, urging him to step up enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and crack down on unfair trade practices facilitating the importation of products made with forced labor.

The letter can be viewed here. Attorney General Merrick Garland is copied on the letter.

Statement by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas:

“We sincerely thank Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) for their letter, calling on Secretary Mayorkas to take immediate action to strengthen enforcement of the UFLPA and aggressively confront predatory trade practices employed by China that are undermining U.S. manufacturers and endangering American citizens.

The government’s failure to fully enforce the UFLPA and the de minimis loophole is devastating US textile and apparel manufacturers. Today, this vital domestic manufacturing industry is facing unparalleled demand destruction as a direct result of market forces that have been exacerbated by anemic customs and trade law enforcement. Chinese cotton from Xinjiang is flooding the global marketplace, making its way to our doorsteps and into our closets. As a result, we need a comprehensive and aggressive solution from the administration to confront these practices head on.

The concerns and steps outlined in the letter by Reps. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are critically important. The administration and DHS must step up enforcement of UFLPA, fraudulent origin claims and the gaping de minimis loophole that is facilitating millions of illegal and dangerous products a day to our market.

Without an immediate government solution, this strategic supply chain that produces lifesaving PPE and 8,000 different products for the U.S. military, will continue to shutter factories and lay off workers.

We cannot continue to reward China for egregious trade practices at the expense of American and regional manufacturers and workers. If these steps not taken immediately, we will fail to stop forced labor trade from entering our market and further jeopardize our vital domestic and Western Hemisphere supply chains.”

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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 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT: Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)

kellis@ncto.org|202.281.9305

Jan 21, 2024 Comments (0) Press Releases

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National Defense Authorization Act Aims to Expand Government Procurement of American-Made Goods in Boost for U.S. Textile Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), spanning the entire spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber to finished sewn products, commended Congress for passing the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation that will help preserve the Berry Amendment supply chain and direct the Department of Defense to expand its procurement of domestically-made textile goods for military use.

“We applaud the House and Senate for getting NDAA across the finish line and are pleased the legislation will now go to President Biden for his signature,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas. “NCTO sincerely thanks Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) for sponsoring language expressing concern about offshoring textile manufacturing and highlighting the need for the DOD and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to procure more domestically-produced textile goods for military use. The language also requires the DOD to report on the feasibility of requiring American-made home textile goods to be used on military installations.”

“We also want to thank Rep. Joe Courney (D-Conn.) who sponsored language expressing concern about economic factors impacting the capacity of the U.S. textile industry to meet DOD requirements and calling on the agency to assess labor shortages, contract forecasting and lack of investment in manufacturing capabilities and report back to Congress.”

Finally, this NDAA report language calls for DOD to report to Congress its assessment of the textile industry as it relates to labor shortages, contract forecasting and lack of investment in manufacturing capabilities. “The domestic textile industry and supply chain are vital to the warm industrial base for the production of critical items that contribute to our nation’s health and safety. It is imperative that Congress and the administration continue to support this industry—a key contributor to our national defense that supplies over 8,000 products a year to our men and women in uniform—through expanded government procurement of American-made items. The NDAA is critical to supporting this manufacturing base.”

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

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34.0 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, 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

Dec 14, 2023 Comments (0) Press Releases, Recent News

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NCTO Issues Statement Supporting Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s Letter to Homeland Security Secretary to Strengthen Customs Isotopic Testing of Goods...

November 30, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued the following statement today in support of Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s (D-VA) letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, urging his agency to step up isotopic testing of imported products containing cotton sourced from forced labor in Xinjiang, China.

The Congresswoman’s press release and letter can be found here.

Statement by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas:

“I want to sincerely thank Rep. Wexton for raising critical questions and concerns in her letter to Secretary Mayorkas about why more isotopic testing is not being done to ensure the Department of Homeland Security’s compliance with the UFLPA, which bans tainted cotton products and other consumer goods made with forced labor from entering the U.S. market.

It is alarming that slave labor products from Xinjiang are still bleeding into the U.S. market unchecked, as the Reuters news story exposed, which also served to underscore the weaknesses of our government’s efforts to enforce the law. Congress has already allocated significant resources to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), under the DHS umbrella, for the development, procurement, and application of new technologies such as isotopic testing for cotton fibers and cotton containing products to track the geographic origin of items and inputs from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR—a region that has become synonymous with forced labor practices and human rights abuses.

It is imperative that CBP step up its overall enforcement efforts, which have shockingly been on the decline in the apparel and textile import sector, and significantly increase its isotopic testing as well as the number of contracted labs it uses.

If DHS does not act swiftly, the vital manufacturing sector that I represent, which produces a broad range of components for consumer goods, critical items such as personal protective equipment, and military products, will be further devastated as factories shutter and job losses mount, while China continues to exploit the government’s ineffective enforcement and reap the rewards of its predatory trade practices.”

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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 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

Nov 30, 2023 Comments (0) Uncategorized

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The U.S. Government Must Act Now to Step Up Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Enforcement and Close De Minimis...

October 19, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Unless Congress and the administration take immediate and aggressive action to step up enforcement against China’s predatory trade practices, the massive surge of imports arriving daily containing apparel made with slave labor, dangerous narcotics, and counterfeits will continue to imperil consumers, ravage our communities, and devastate the vital U.S. manufacturing base.

That is the strong message being delivered by National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas who is testifying at a congressional hearing today on “Exploitation and Enforcement: Evaluating the Department of Homeland Security’s Efforts to Counter Uyghur Forced Labor.”

See her written testimony here and view the livestream of the Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability hearing here.

“Chinese cotton products made with forced labor in Xinjiang, in the most abhorrent conditions, are flooding the global marketplace, making their way both directly and indirectly to the U.S.,” Glas said, noting that around 72 percent of all Chinese cotton products contain Xinjiang cotton, leading to forced labor textiles and apparel leaking into supply chains in the U.S. and our free trade agreement regions. “As a result, American textile plants have been forced to idle equipment and lay off workers, while some companies have been put out of business entirely.

“Not only are we failing to stop forced labor trade that Congress explicitly acted to address through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), but we are rewarding China with duty-free access under the de minimis provision of our trade law.  The de minimis loophole has become a superhighway for illicit goods as a result of ineffective rulemaking and a lack of adequate congressional action and it’s a threat to us all,” Glas said.

Congress should take the following steps to counter these practices:

  • Get aggressive on oversight of customs enforcement of UFLPA and require Customs officials to testify regularly. Detail to Congress and the public a robust forward-leaning enforcement plan to crack down on this illegal trade, increase penalties and other deterrent mechanisms, and include measurable benchmarks for enforcement for this sector and beyond.
  • Close the de minimis loophole for e-commerce with a legislative fix to address the flood of fentanyl, forced labor goods, and counterfeits and pressure the administration to immediately use its executive authorities to close it. This trade is uncontrollable and impossible to monitor; it makes enforcement of UFLPA impossible.
  • Urge the administration to utilize and expand the UFLPA Entity List more robustly as a deterrent. To date, only 27 entities have been placed on the list and all operate within China. Expand the list and include companies outside of China.
  • Aggressively step up enforcement, inspections, and penalties to include more testing, including verification visits in our free trade agreement partners, and coordination.

“I want to sincerely thank Subcommittee Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Ranking Member Glenn Ivey (D-MD) for holding this important oversight hearing,” Glas said.

“Consider this: Billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese apparel coming through the de minimis loophole and tainted by forced labor, is getting VIP treatment on its way straight to our front doors, at the expense of workers and manufacturers in the U.S. and our critical regional supply chains. This is all rewarded by the U.S. government. We must stop China’s forced labor regime and support American companies and workers who are being exploited as a result,” Glas added.

“This is an economic fire, a health fire, and human rights fire — and we need it extinguished immediately. An aggressive enforcement plan, coupled with a set of rational revisions to the outdated and now extremely dangerous de minimis loophole in our trade law would prevent the continuation of this devastation, but Congress and the Executive Branch must decisively act now.”

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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 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

DOWNLOAD RELEASE

CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

Oct 19, 2023 Comments (0) Press Releases, Testimony and Statements

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NCTO Commends Bipartisan Group of Senators for Calling on President Biden to Crack Down on China’s Predatory Trade Practices...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement today, applauding the actions of a bipartisan group of senators who are raising alarm about the impact of China’s predatory trade practices on the U.S. textile and apparel industry and calling on President Joe Biden to lead a multi-agency effort to substantially step up enforcement and develop a strategic plan to combat it.

In the letter to President Biden, the senators warned that without immediate and improved enforcement against these predatory trade practices, the U.S. textile and apparel sector faces a “coming disaster.”

The letter, led by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), was also signed by Senators Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ted Budd (R-NC), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Tim Scott (R-SC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).

Please see a link to their joint press release here.

NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas, said: “I want to thank Senator Tillis and Senator Brown for leading these efforts and strongly commend the bipartisan group of senators for taking the lead in calling on President Biden and the administration to take urgent action to address a wide range of illegal trade practices that are severely impacting the U.S. textile and apparel industry.”

“The industry is being overwhelmed by a multitude of compounding factors, including a lack of effective customs enforcement, unfair trade practices fueled by a loophole in U.S. trade law known as ‘de minimis’ shipments, import fraud undermining our free trade agreements (FTAs) and their rules of origin, and forced labor in our supply chains making their way into the United States and through other markets,” Glas said.

The senators’ letter calls on the administration to take the following specific actions:

  • Step up enforcement of forced labor subsidized textiles and apparel flooding into our FTAs
  • End duty-free treatment for clothing made with forced labor under de minimis
  • Review all executive authorities to hold China accountable for its predatory trade practices

“To maintain the industry’s operations and competitiveness, the administration must take immediate steps to increase its enforcement activities and crack down on systemic abuse that is undermining the very fabric of our domestic textile supply chain and its workforce,” Glas added.

###

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

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT: Kristi Ellis

(202) 684-3091

www.ncto.org

Sep 29, 2023 Comments (0) Press Releases, Recent News

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U.S. Textile Executives Raise Concern Over Department of Veterans Affairs’ Lack of Compliance with Legislation Mandating the Purchase of...

September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and member companies issued a statement today, sounding the alarm over the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) lack of compliance to date with legislation mandating the purchase of domestically-produced PPE.

NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas commended the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs’ (HVAC) Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations for holding a hearing on “VA Procurement: Made in America.”

The Make PPE in America Act, which took effect in February 2022, requires that all PPE purchased by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and VA be made by manufacturers in the United States using domestic components.

“I applaud the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations for scrutinizing the VA’s compliance with the Make PPE in America Act. It is alarming that this key federal agency has not yet complied with the underlying provisions of the law or provided a demand signal for the procurement of more American-made PPE. That inaction has left the vital domestic textile and apparel supply chain—the very industry that retooled production lines to produce desperately needed PPE during the pandemic—with idled capacity, financial losses and closures,” Glas said.

“The VA and all federal agencies need to fully implement this law immediately. It is critical to the viability of the domestic PPE supply chain and to our nation’s long-term health and national security. Without the commitment, our manufacturers will be forced to shutter operations and the PPE domestic supply chain will disappear, leaving our country overly reliant once again on unreliable imports from China and other foreign suppliers,” Glas added.

Norman Chapman, president and CEO of Inman Mills, a South Carolina-based yarn manufacturer and weaver, said: “The Department of Veterans Affairs’ lack of compliance with the Make PPE in America Act to date has essentially cast aside proven American-made goods in favor of cheap foreign goods from an unreliable and often unfriendly supply chain, costing our company and others millions of dollars, and disincentivizing future calls to rush in to help.”

“We invested in the expansion of PPE production at our facilities based on the promise of a consistent domestic market due to the passing of the Make PPE in America Act,” said Marisa Fumei-South, chief operating officer at Two One Two New York. “That promise, however, has not been upheld, as the Department of Veterans Affairs has failed to issue contracts and make wide-scale purchases of domestically-produced PPE, as required by the Make PPE in America Act. The failure to comply with key elements of this legislation has had a significant financial impact on our business, in favor of cheap foreign goods from unreliable chains—as the COVID pandemic exposed.”

“We were able to boast over 1 million yards of elastic per week during the peak of the pandemic demand from our humble factory,” said Adolfo Solorzano Z., general manager of American Elastic & Tape, a Florida based textile producer. “During that time, we proved that we could create American jobs, produce at competitive prices, and pay a decent wage. However, the struggle now lies when our clients are still sitting on inventory that is not circulating because organizations like the VA are not complying with simple requirements in the Make PPE in America Act. Without consistent demand, jobs are lost, shifts are cut, profits are diminished and the path for Asian dependence is laid forth once again for another generation.”

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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 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

Sep 21, 2023 Comments (0) Press Releases

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Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles, Dr. Laurie-Ann Agama, Tours U.S. Textile Industry; Participates in Industry Roundtable

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dr. Laurie-Ann Agama, Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Textiles, wrapped up a three-day visit of state-of-the art U.S. textile manufacturing facilities in North and South Carolina today, highlighting the importance of trade policies that bolster the competitiveness of the vibrant domestic supply chain that contributes significantly to the U.S. economy and workforce.

Dr. Agama, who advises the nation’s top trade chief on textile and apparel trade policy matters and conducts and oversees negotiations affecting textiles and apparel products, was joined by USTR textile trade officials in touring seven textile manufacturers including: Glen Raven, Barnet, Standard Textile, Parkdale Mills, Beverly Knits, Gildan, and Unifi.

Her three-day tour culminated today in an industry roundtable discussion with key textile executives hosted by Unifi, in Greensboro, N.C.

U.S. textile executives spanning the fiber, yarn, fabric, and finished product textile and apparel industries participated in the roundtable and outlined critical policies, such as: the importance of maintaining the yarn forward rule of origin in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and other trade agreements; advancing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) and its importance to domestic manufacturers; closing the de minimis loophole in U.S. trade law; addressing larger systemic trade issues, particularly the use of forced labor, with China; and upholding buy American and Berry Amendment government procurement policies.

“We deeply appreciate Assistant USTR Agama’s visit to the heart of the U.S. textile industry in North and South Carolina this week to meet with U.S. textile executives and experience first-hand the breadth of the industry’s innovation, advanced sustainability practices, capital investments and critical contributions to local economies and the U.S. economy as a whole,” said Kim Glas, president and CEO of NCTO. “The three-day visit by Dr. Agama and the USTR textile team included facility tours of several NCTO member companies, all of which have made major investments in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities that are part of a broader domestic industry supply chain that produced $65.8 billion in output in 2022 and employed 538,000 workers.”

Glas continued: “We are also grateful for Dr. Agama’s participation in the industry roundtable hosted by Unifi and substantive discussions around policy opportunities and challenges. We look forward to working closely with Dr. Agama, the USTR textile team and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai to advance policies that provide incentives for onshoring and nearshoring production and bolstering the industry’s competitiveness, while enforcing policies that address illegal trade practices that undermine this industry.”

“The U.S. textile industry has always been resilient, innovative, and a driving force of our nation’s competitiveness,” said Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles Dr. Laurie-Ann Agama. “For USTR, this local engagement and conversations underscore our need to create trade policies that put workers first and promote inclusive economic growth. The spinning, knitting, and weaving operations of the textile industry are at the center of many communities across the Carolinas. This was another opportunity to hear first-hand how we trade can create jobs that allow workers, businesses, and communities to thrive”. 

###

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

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 538,067 in 2022.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.8 billion in 2022.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $34 billion in 2022.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

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CONTACT:

Kristi Ellis

Vice President, Communications

National Council of Textile Organizations

kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

Jun 7, 2023 Comments (0) Press Releases, Recent News

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