WASHINGTON — December 6, 2018 — The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) board of directors has voted to endorse the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The United States, Canada and Mexico signed the USMCA on November 30.
“On behalf of the U.S. textile industry, thank you to President Trump, Ambassador Lighthizer and the entire U.S. negotiating team for your hard work in getting USMCA done,” said NCTO Chairman Marty Moran, CEO of Jefferson, Ga.-based Buhler Quality Yarns Corp.
“The new deal is better than NAFTA for the U.S. textile industry in many aspects and NCTO is pleased to endorse it,” Moran added.
“NCTO was in continuous communication with U.S. negotiators during USMCA talks, urging them to preserve and enhance the North American textile supply chain, and the deal reflects many of NCTO’s priorities,” Moran finished as he noted U.S. textile-related exports to Canada and Mexico totaled a combined $11.8 billion in 2017.
“NCTO will begin educating Congress immediately on how USMCA is an improvement over NAFTA and assuming any implementing legislation is restricted to the terms of the agreement as negotiated, we will press for its passage in early 2019,” said NCTO President & CEO Auggie Tantillo
USMCA improvements over NAFTA include:
- A standalone chapter for textile and apparel; NAFTA does not have a separate chapter covering textile and apparel rules of origin;
- Stronger rules of origin for sewing thread, pocketing, narrow elastics and certain coated fabrics;
- Fixing the Kissell Amendment loophole; and
- Stronger rules for customs enforcement.
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 USMCA on the U.S. economy. Tantillo testified on Panel 4, General Manufacturing, on Friday, November 16, the hearing’s second day, in more detail about how USMCA is an improvement to NAFTA.
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.
Posted December 6, 2018
Source: The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)
