A bipartisan group of legislators urged President Joe Biden to review China’s predatory trade practices and how they affect the U.S. textile and apparel sector.
In a letter on Friday, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) asked Biden to convene immediate interagency meetings with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Department of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, and the National Security Council. The meetings would focus on identifying key issues with the U.S.-China trade relationship, developing solutions, and engaging with the industry and U.S. regional allies.
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Co-signed by Senators Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the letter called the U.S. textile industry “a vital domestic industrial base for key U.S. national security, health care, and economic priorities,” noting that Congress has designated the sector as a Priority Trade Issue.
“U.S. textile production is the foundation of our Western Hemisphere textile and apparel co-production chain, responsible for over 500,000 U.S. jobs with $39 billion in annual shipments,” they wrote. “Domestic producers are a critical part of the military’s warm industrial base, supplying over 8,000 items of mission critical gear and clothing annually to our war fighters, and are an essential component of U.S. health care security as our only domestic supply chain for critical personal protective equipment and other health supplies.” Without the industry, the U.S. would be forced to rely third parties like China for these essential products, they added.
“Unfortunately, after decades of victimization by Chinese economic and trade predation, today our domestic textile manufacturers and workers find themselves attempting to recover from the pandemic while facing unprecedented demand destruction,” the senators wrote. “This is largely a result of China’s aggressive and illegal practices of transshipment, undervaluation of cheap products, forced labor, skirting tariffs and penalties, and countless other tactics that are undermining U.S. supply chains.”
“Without urgent action, we will be unable to head off a coming disaster that will substantially undermine textile and apparel production and employment in the U.S. and throughout the Western Hemisphere,” they continued, calling the issue “an urgent priority.” The legislators said the government needs “a high-level interagency process” to develop a plan of action addressing poor enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which they believe has allowed products made with forced labor into the U.S. market, as well as Chinese companies’ exploitation of the de minimis loophole, which allows shipments under $800 in the U.S. duty free.
National Council of Textile Organizations president and CEO Kim Glas commended Tillis and Brown for leading the call to action. “The industry is being overwhelmed by a multitude of compounding factors,” she said, including issues such as imports fraud. “To maintain the industry’s operations and competitiveness, the administration must take immediate steps to increase its enforcement activities and crack down on systemic abuse that is undermining the very fabric of our domestic textile supply chain and its workforce.”
The news comes one week after a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations fingered the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) for non-compliance with the Make PPE in America Act, a 2022 law stating that government agencies purchase personal protective equipment exclusively from U.S. manufacturers. Congress members questioned the department about its failure to engage with U.S. textile suppliers since the legislation was enacted. American suppliers and NCTO said these government contracts are vital to the industry, and goal of reducing reliance on China for essential products.
