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Hagan announces bill to support US textile industry
Story Date: 10/25/2013
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Source: PRESS RELEASE, 10/24/13
U.S. Senator Kay Hagan toured the Nonwovens Institute at North Carolina State University and announced that she reintroduced the bipartisan Textile Enforcement and Security Act (TESA) with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (SC). This bipartisan bill, originally introduced in 2011, will help level the playing field for textile companies in North Carolina and throughout the country by enhancing enforcement and oversight of the trade of textiles and apparels.
“Today, North Carolina remains one of the top textile employers in the country, with more than 1,500 textile facilities employing over 130,000 North Carolinians,” said Hagan. “Passage of the Textile Enforcement and Security Act will ensure that workers in our yarn, fabric, and textiles industries will not be put at a disadvantage because of fraud that goes unchecked. Enforcement of our existing trade laws is a jobs issue for North Carolina, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and all industry stakeholders to make sure we fulfill our obligation to North Carolina’s workers.”
Based on existing trade agreements, certain textiles are permitted to enter the country duty-free. However, due to illegal trafficking of yarn, too many foreign companies are able to evade US duties, which undermines the US textile industry’s ability to compete in the global marketplace and costs taxpayers millions in lost revenue. TESA cracks down on this illegal activity. North Carolina is one of the top textile employers in the country.
“We applaud Senators Kay Hagan and Lindsey Graham for taking the lead on this crucial issue,” said National Council of Textile Organizations President Auggie Tantillo. “Strong enforcement of our trade laws is imperative to the preservation of the over 500,000 U.S. jobs which rely on the domestic textile and apparel industry. Proper enforcement of our agreements and trade obligations is a basic necessity, not a luxury in regard to U.S trade policy. Legislation such as TESA will help ensure that U.S. workers and manufacturers have an opportunity to fairly compete in markets both at home and abroad.”
The U.S. textile industry is the third largest exporter of textile products in the world with over $19 billion in exports last year. A majority of U.S. textile production is exported, with three quarters of the industry’s exports going to trade preference countries. By failing to ensure proper enforcement of our agreements and trade obligations, we are damaging the ability of U.S. manufacturing to compete in the global market.
Specifically, the Textile Enforcement and Security Act will:
• Establish an electronic verification program that tracks yarn and fabric inputs in free trade agreements.
• Increase the number of trained import specialists in textile and apparel verifications at the 15 largest U.S. ports (by value) that process textile and apparel imports.
• Increase staff at the Textile and Trade Agreements Division in Customs and Border Protection headquarters that are dedicated and trained in identifying textiles fraud.
• Mandate the publishing of names of companies that intentionally violate the rules of textile and apparel trade agreements.
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