WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee has asked the International Trade Commission to determine the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers producing performance outerwear pants and jackets, and the fabrics used to make them, as well as travel goods made of textile materials.
Rep. Bill Thomas (R., Calif.) made the request at the behest of the Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group representing wholesalers and retailers of performance outerwear, including REI, Columbia Sportswear and Patagonia. They want to exclude their products from “punitive trade actions” — such as quotas or dumping duties imposed on “unfairly priced” imports — that the federal government might take against countries where the firms source their products, including China and Vietnam, said Alex Boian, government affairs associate for the trade group.
The association’s objective is to get an ITC study that shows there is no U.S. production of those products and convince the Bush administration to exclude them from further trade actions that restrict imports, Boian said. Quota and dumping duties are intended to protect domestic producers from a surge of low-price imports.
“We are saying this is a different class of products, [highly innovative performancewear],” and they should be treated differently, Boian said. “Step one is to get the study done and have demonstrable evidence that says if there is no commercially viable domestic production” the products should be excluded from punitive tariffs or quotas.
The Outdoor Industry Association succeeded last year in getting support from several lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pressure the administration to carve out ski and snowboarding pants from the China bilateral quota restraint agreement. But Boian said companies want quotas removed on more of their performance apparel and to exclude the broader category from potential antidumping cases from Vietnam.
Thomas, who is retiring at the end of the year, has asked the ITC to submit two separate reports: one covering performance outerwear pants and jackets and the fabrics used to make them, and the other for travel goods with an outer surface of textile materials and textiles used to make the goods. He asked that the first report be submitted within nine months and the second within a year.
He also requested that the investigation provide data for 2005 and 2006 U.S. production levels and shipments. The ITC will conduct the “fact-finding” inquiry and issue a report on its findings, a spokeswoman said. It will not make a policy recommendation.