WASHINGTON — March 22, 2024 — 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.”
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.
Posted: March 21, 2024
Source: The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)
