US textile and footwear associations welcome legislation
15/06/2015
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) said: “The US textile and apparel industry employs 499,500 Americans. It is imperative that these agreements are constructed in a balanced and fair manner in order to help boost American exports, create jobs, and strengthen the US economy.”
NCTO President Augustine Tantillo added: “We encourage the House to follow the Senate’s lead and pass a clean TPA bill without amendments that hurt domestic textile workers.”
Footwear has some of the highest duty rates on any US import, averaging 10%, and going up to 37.5%, 48% and 67.5%.
Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) president Matt Priest said: “TPA is a process that has been enjoyed by every President since Franklin Roosevelt, and it will allow Congress to consider trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is currently being negotiated. Unfortunately, our work is not yet complete as the House failed to advance the important Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which was required in order for TPA to reach the President’s desk.
“The TPP agreement is critical to the footwear industry because it will create jobs and lower costs for American consumers. FDRA has worked for years to highlight the hundreds of thousands of U.S. footwear employees that rely on our ability to move goods all over the world, with trade supporting one in five jobs in America.“
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