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Textile groups lobby for trade protection

By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, June 22, 2003

Washington — Facing what they see as a life-or-death struggle with U.S. trade policies, representatives of the six largest American textile and fiber trade associations have launched an aggressive joint lobbying campaign.

The American Textile Manufacturers Institute, the National Cotton Council, the National Textile Assn., the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, the American Fiber Manufacturers Assn. and the American Yarn Spinners Assn. want the federal government to enforce the so-called "China safeguard," protecting U.S. producers from unfair competition as textile quotas are eliminated from Chinese products.

"When Japan and Australia eliminated their textile quotas, Chinese exports quickly cornered 75% of the market," said Allen Gant, ATMI second vice chairman and chief executive officer of Glen Raven Mills. "Unless the U.S. government acts decisively before China's textile quotas expire in 2005, Chinese exports undoubtedly will dominate the U.S. market in a similar fashion, eviscerating the U.S. textile industry."

To secure congressional passage of trade promotion authority, numerous administration officials made promises to the U.S. textile industry. President Bush issued a statement on Dec. 6, 2001, saying, "I intend to ensure that the interests of our textile industry and workers are at the heart of our trade negotiations."

"The U.S. government's lack of follow-through on its commitments concerning textile trade policy has thrown the U.S. textile, fiber and apparel industry and its nearly 1 million workers into a life-or-death struggle," said Billy Moore, ATMI chairman and executive vice president of governmental and investor relations at Unifi. "And the industry (has made) an unwavering commitment to take any and all political steps to ensure the industry's survival."

The initial goal of the campaign is to persuade the U.S. government to implement the special textile China safeguard in an early and effective way to moderate the massive surge in Chinese imports. The organizations are working together to submit new safeguard petitions to the government soon.

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