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National Textile Association to Negotiators: "We need access to foreign yarn or we must oppose CAFTA."
Boston, December 12, 2003 -- The Board of Directors of the National Textile Association, the largest association of fabric-forming companies in the U.S., at the 149th Annual Meeting of the Association last month in Florida, adopted the following POSITIONS REGARDING THE U.S.-CENTRAL AMERICA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (CAFTA).
Rule-of-origin -- NTA supports the same rule-of-origin used under NAFTA, known as yarn forward, and including the “Special Regime”. This rule should apply to all garments: there should be no exemption for brassieres or any other garments. Special Regime would allow apparel to be made in Central America from U.S. fabric, regardless of the source of the yarn. In a change from the NAFTA rule, however, we advocate dropping the restrictive U.S. cutting requirement from the Special Regime.
Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs) -- NTA strongly opposes the inclusion of TPLs in the CAFTA. TPLs grant duty free treatment to a limited amount of apparel made in one of the CAFTA countries, even though these garments are formed from non-U.S., non-Central American yarns and fabrics.
Cumulation -- NTA opposes cumulation. Under such a provision, component parts would be acceptable from countries that have existing free trade agreements with the U.S. and all of the Central American countries. Currently, only Mexico and Chile would qualify for cumulation. However, the CAFTA would likely allow for the adoption of additional countries, such as Canada, Israel and Singapore, if in the future, they conclude their own free trade arrangements with the Central Americans.
Short Supply -- NTA opposes any weakening of the process used to determine when a fabric or yarn is in short supply.
We strongly emphasize the necessity, from NTA’s point of view, of inclusion of “Special Regime” in the agreement. Without this provision U.S. fabric makers would not be able to utilize CAFTA effectively. To large degree the remaining U.S. textile industry jobs are in fabric formation. These companies need this provision, already in NAFTA, in order to remain competitive in our markets.
The National Textile Association represents companies who knit or weave fabric in the United States. For more information about NTA, see our website www.nationaltextile.org.