In what is being called an “unprecedented coalition of the entire US textile and apparel supply chain”, US fibre producers, yarn spinners, knitters, weavers, dyers, equipment suppliers, apparel manufacturers, importers and retailers have come together and sent letters to President Bush and members of US Congress urging the quick approval of the US/Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and the US/Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.

“Urgency has brought together a unified response from the US textile and apparel industry supply chain organisations,” said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). “It is vital to the Andean and American economies that the US/Colombia and US/Peru trade agreements be approved as soon as possible. Those agreements will provide our industry with permanent, reciprocal and immediate duty-free access for all apparel and textiles. Now that congressional leaders and the Bush administration have agreed on a bipartisan trade policy framework, we need to move immediately to secure approval of the pending Andean trade promotion agreements. Moreover, the existing duty-free programme with the Andean region needs to be maintained until those agreements can take full effect.”

The US/Peru Trade Promotion Agreement was completed in late 2006 and the US/Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement was completed in early 2007. Both are pending before the US Congress. The Peru agreement has already been approved by the Peruvian Congress while the Colombian agreement is currently being considered by the South American country’s national assembly.

In 2006, the USA imported $1.4 billion worth of apparel from the Andean region. In turn, US cotton growers and textile manufacturers exported $260 million worth of cotton, yarn and fabric to the region.