Help for Haiti is among AAFA’s aims
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is calling on the US Congress to renew two programmes that benefit textile industry workers in Haiti and US companies that sell apparel.
Both programmes, the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act are set to expire on September 30. AAFA has asked Congress to renew them both immediately.
HOPE and HELP have run for 15 years, granting Haiti duty-free access to the US market for apparel and textile products and building good business ties between the two neighbouring nations.
AAFA’s vice-president of trade and customs policy, Beth Hughes, said the two Haiti-focused programmes should be considered for immediate renewal along with the better known African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which will also expire at the end of September.
She said: “Renewing these programmes is an urgent, cost-effective, and bipartisan solution. Let’s continue the decades-long tradition of overwhelming support for these programmes that strengthen growing regions abroad while preserving and enhancing competitiveness at home.”
