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NTA Promotional Activities 2006

MEGATEX

The National Textile Association CAFTA-DR Seminar at MEGATEX, November 1, 2006, Atlanta, Georgia, was titled CAFTA: It's Central to the American Textile Industry. The program was followed by joint NTA-ATMA reception for the promotion of our member companies.

The CAFTA-DR agreement is extremely complex, by far the most complex of the free trade agreements to which the U.S. is partner and much more complex by far than NAFTA. There are hundreds of pages of legal text. And even with that there are yet unanswered questions due to uncertainty as to how some parts of the agreement will be implemented Furthermore, some companies have experienced frustrations when trying to take advantage of CAFTA.

If the region is going to take advantage of CAFTA, it needs access to fabric and the ability to co-develop fabric with U.S. brands and retailers. In addition, the supply chain must be compressed. Instead of talking about 30 days from order to delivery (assuming fabric is on hand) we need to be talking about 5 to 10 days. Companies within the CAFTA region must also accept more and more responsibility for the product development process. A few companies have taken the lead on this, but more needs to be done.

Our panelists looked at not only the rules of CAFTA-DR but will also explored how to identify business partners in the region and the industry sectors where Western Hemisphere suppliers may be expected to compete with Chinese and other Asian suppliers, such as:

  • Shortened lead time in merchandising calendar
  • Fashion replenishment programs
  • Innovation
  • Specific products such as knit cotton basics, knit sportswear, basic jeans, performance bottoms, performance activewear, swimwear, shapewear, and corporate workwear

    The panelists were:

  • MARY O'ROURKE, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Jassin~O'Rourke
  • MICHAEL T. FRALIX, Ph.D., President and COO, [TC]2.
  • KARL SPILHAUS, President, National Textile Association

    Material World

    In 2006 NTA again promoted our members' products at Material World, in New York City, September 26-28. Material World designated a special TDA (Textile Distributors Association)/NTA pavilion on the exhibit floor, with exclusive and differentiating signage and carpet at the Jacob K. Javitz Center, New York, New York. In addition to general promotion of NTA members and of American-made fabrics, NTA's American Flock Association displayed samples of flocked products.

    Auto Interiors Expo

    NTA's American Flock Association displayed flocked products at the Auto Interiors Show, June 7-8, 2006, in Detroit, Michigan.

    Hospitality Design

    NTA's American Flock Association exhibited members' products at HD Expo 2006, April 27-29, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

    Techtextil North America

    NTA President Karl Spilhaus addressed how the U.S. textile industry is facing the challenges of change, at TECHTEXTIL NORTH AMERICA, March 28, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia. The talked presented an overview of the world textile trade outlook through 2008. He also addressed some of the areas such as intellectual property rights, equal enforcement of regulatory standards, design innovation, and innovative partnering with global textile leaders that U.S. textile companies are using to prepare to compete post-2008.