NTA TRADE POLICY POSITION, reaffirmed at October 29, 2002 Meeting of Board of Government in New York, NY.

At the Annual Meeting of the National Textile Association, September 22, 2002, the NTA Board of Directors called on the Bush Administration to expeditiously fulfill each of the commitments tendered to the U.S. textile industry in December of 2001. During the debate over Trade Promotion Authority, the domestic textile and apparel industries garnered nine specific commitments from the Bush Administration, designed to address many of the previously mentioned issues the majority of which have yet to be acted on.

Citing the prohibitive tariff and non-tariff barriers on the part of many countries--such as China, India, Pakistan and Brazil--and the history of major textile and apparel exporting nations benefiting from increased shipments to the United States by billions of dollars above limits agreed under bilaterally negotiated international accords through illegal second-country transshipment, falsification of import documents and mislabeling of garments, NTA also called upon the Congress and Bush Administration to deny any further unilateral liberalization of the U.S. textile and apparel market either through legislation or an executive branch decision.

The National Textile Association--formed from the merger of the Northern Textile Association and the Knitted Textile Association--represents over 200 textile producer and supplier companies engaged in every aspect of the textile industry in America.

The full text of the Board resolution follows:

Whereas 964,000 Americans continue to be directly employed by the United States textile and apparel industry, resulting in nearly $36 billion in annual compensation to workers in this sector contributing $48.3 billion to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in calendar year 2001;

Whereas according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the textile and apparel industry was one of our nation's most productive during the decade of the 1990s, experiencing significant productivity growth in practically all major product sectors;

Whereas the United States textile and apparel industry is a critical supplier to our nation's Armed Services, providing a stable domestic supply of vital items such as uniforms, parachutes, chemical and biological protective gear, and sophisticated carbon fibers necessary for missile and satellite guidance systems;

Whereas surging imports from low-wage foreign suppliers, along with massive currency devaluations on the part of numerous major exporting nations, have combined to overwhelm trade controls established pursuant to international agreements leading to the most severe and prolonged economic crisis the United States textile and apparel industry has ever faced;

Whereas imports of textile and apparel products into the United States have increased by 107% since 1993 and totaled 32.8 billion square meter equivalents in calendar year 2001 and the United States has accumulated a $340 billion trade deficit over that same period in the textile and apparel sector alone despite the fact that prices of imported garments have actually been falling;

Whereas exports of textile and apparel products from the United States are often stymied by prohibitive tariff and non-tariff barriers on the part of many countries, such as China, India, Pakistan and Brazil, which represent enormous untapped markets for United States textile and apparel manufacturers;

Whereas many major textile and apparel exporting nations have benefited from increased shipments to the United States by billions of dollars above limits agreed under bilaterally negotiated international accords through illegal second-country transshipment, falsification of import documents and mislabeling of garments;

Whereas the domestic textile and apparel industries garnered nine specific commitments from the Bush Administration, designed to address many of the previously mentioned issues the majority of which have yet to be acted on.