Federal procurement of American-made mission critical clothing, textiles and gear

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber, yarn and fabrics to finished sewn products, applauded the launch of the House Berry Amendment Caucus. 

Statement from National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas

“On behalf of the U.S textile industry, NCTO sincerely thanks Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) and Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) for their leadership in co-chairing the new bipartisan House Berry Amendment Caucus, aimed at strengthening national security and the U.S. defense industrial supply chain through the federal procurement of American-made mission critical clothing, textiles and gear. 

“NCTO strongly supports this new caucus to promote and expand the Berry Amendment, a law requiring the Department of War (DOW) to buy textile and clothing products made with virtually 100% U.S. content and labor to support our U.S. warm industrial base. 

NCTO: “Block the Secure Revenue Clearance Channel Act”

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas sent a letter House leaders urging them to oppose and block the Secure Revenue Clearance Channel Act, a bill that would essentially reopen a dangerous trade loophole and ultimately harm U.S. textile manufacturers.

“Last year through bipartisan action, Congress voted overwhelmingly to end de minimis after identifying the substantial harms it perpetrated,” Glas states in the letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (D-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). “The House China Select Committee determined in 2023 that Chinese e-commerce platforms were flooding the U.S. with billions of dollars’ worth of goods but had paid $0 in import duties, while American companies comparatively spent millions. Additionally, these platforms were found lacking in due diligence mechanisms to verify that products were not tainted by forced labor in China.”

Solid Air Dynamics wins second place at RWTH Innovation Award

On 30 January, RWTH spin-off Solid Air Dynamics was awarded second place in the RWTH Innovation Awards for its research in the field of aerogel fibres. Manufactured from renewable raw materials, aerogel fibres offer outstanding thermal insulation, are extremely lightweight and completely biodegradable, and can consist of over 90 per cent air.

The founders, Dr Sascha Schriever, Dr Jens Hofer and Maximilian Mohr from Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) and Dr Christian Schwotzer from Department for Industrial Furnace and Heat Engineering (IOB) of RWTH Aachen University, want to revolutionise the market in the future with high-performance materials for sports and outdoor clothing or the mobility and construction sectors.

The award ceremony took place during the annual RWTHtransparent event in Aachen. The top three places were honoured with the RWTH Innovation Award. The RWTH Innovation Award recognises contributions that demonstrate particular innovation and charisma in the Aachen region.

U.S. Textile Industry Applauds Legislation Aimed at Ending Harmful Customs Rule

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), which represents the full U.S. textile supply chain from fiber and yarn to fabrics and finished sewn products, lauds a bill introduced today aimed at ending the U.S. Customs & Border Protection’s (CBP) “first sale” rule.

National Council of Textile Organizations President and CEO Kim Glas
“NCTO and the U.S. textile industry strongly support the Last Sale Valuation Act, a bill that would eliminate a harmful CBP rule that significantly lowers duties paid by importers on textile and apparel goods and disadvantages U.S. textile manufacturers in favor of countries that often employ predatory trade practices and fail to provide reciprocal market access.

“We sincerely thank Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for their leadership on this bill. Closing this loophole will help level the playing field, bolster the U.S. textile industry, and spur more onshoring and investment here and in our Western Hemisphere.”

"Deliver emergency measures as Europe’s competitiveness crisis deepens"

EURATEX, representing the European textile and fashion industry, joins the Antwerp Declaration Community’s call on EU Heads of State and Government to adopt emergency measures that restore industrial competitiveness and deliver tangible results for Europe’s manufacturing base in 2026.

The call was made at the European Industry Summit, which brought together over 500 business leaders, 30 factory workers, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, under the auspices of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Senior EU leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, as well as Executive Vice-Presidents Teresa Ribera and Stéphane Séjourné, and Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, also joined the discussions — underscoring the growing political urgency of Europe’s industrial competitiveness crisis.

The European Industry Summit urged a coordinated package focused on:

One in five hazardous mixtures not reported to poison centres

ECHA Forum’s pilot enforcement project found that 19 % of the checked hazardous mixtures were not notified to poison centres.

Inspectors in 18 EU/EEA countries checked nearly 1 597 mixtures to verify whether industry complies with the obligation to notify hazardous mixtures to national poison centres. This is regulated under the EU’s Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation. These notifications are crucial for poison centres to provide an adequate medical response in case of exposure to hazardous mixtures. Of all checked mixtures, 19 % were not notified to the authorities. 

Chris Van den hole, the Working Group Chair of this pilot project said: 
“Missing notifications of the necessary information to the poison centres undermine the effectiveness of emergency response. Therefore, inspectors take these findings very seriously and initiated numerous enforcement actions to bring companies to compliance.
“To improve the situation, we have listed recommendations for market actors, authorities and consumers in our report.”

Avgol: New Global R&D Head for the Nonwovens Business

Marco Bruno is the new Global R&D Head for the nonwovens business at Avgol, an Indorama Ventures company. With more than 20 years of experience in the textile and nonwovens industry, including extensive expertise in high technology textile substrates, the manager brings deep knowledge in nonwoven and textile-related applications. He is one of the inventors on more than 10 international patent filings covering advanced breathable functional materials and innovative material engineering developments in the nonwoven field.

At Indorama Ventures’ Avgol nonwovens business, Marco’s key goal is to further strengthen the company’s collaboration with up- and downstream partners across the value chain, ensuring that innovation translates into tangible, high value benefits for customers.

Being an active member of the company’s cross-business R&D community globally, he will also work closely with colleagues developing next-generation fibers for nonwovens and those focusing on the further enhancements of surfactants for technical and personal care applications.

Mayer & Cie. acquired by Chinese owner family

On Monday, February 09, Xu Hongjie signed the purchase agreement for Mayer & Cie. The Chinese entrepreneur is thereby acquiring the company’s entire circular knitting business, including its subsidiaries in Vsetín (Czech Republic) and Jintan (China).

Xu Hongjie comes from a southern Chinese entrepreneurial family that has been running the company Huixing for almost 30 years. Huixing employs around 1,000 people and develops, manufactures and sells circular knitting machines worldwide. With machines under the Mayer & Cie. brand, Huixing aims to enter the premium segment in the future. As development and manufacturing are at the core of the Mayer & Cie. brand, the Albstadt site will continue to be of strategic importance going forward.
 
“We are very pleased that a future perspective has emerged for the company and for everything we associate with it,” says Wolfgang Müller. He has worked at Mayer & Cie. for many years as Head of Sales and, over the past weeks, has worked intensively with his colleagues and Xu Hongjie on a plan for the restart of Mayer & Cie.

VIATT 2026 announces inaugural lifestyle Trend Forum

“The launch of VIATT's inaugural Trend Forum marks an important new step for this fair,” stated Ms Wilmet Shea, General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. “Leveraging Messe Frankfurt’s nearly three decades of leadership in coordinating apparel and home textiles trend forecasting – a track record of consistently setting industry benchmarks – we are now extending this unparalleled expertise to enlighten the entire textile value chain. Utilising the expertise of our top-level trend curators, this holistic approach is designed to deliver unparalleled insights, foster robust innovation, and empower businesses to anticipate and shape consumer preferences with greater precision and relevance.”
 
Acting as a unified set of principles that flows seamlessly across sectors, the LIFESTYLE TRENDS shape fashion choices, home interior design, and interactions with technical products and interfaces.
 

INDEX™26: Pioneering highlights at Geneva

INDEX™26, the World’s Leading Nonwovens Exhibition, will take place from 19 to 22 May 2026 at PALEXPO in Geneva. With 600 exhibitors expected, INDEX™26 represents the entire value chain of the industry, from raw materials, machinery, producers of nonwovens, components to converters.

This year’s event highlights a clear trend toward high-performance lightweight materials emerging from an increasingly integrated global supply chain. From breakthroughs in engineering to innovations in raw materials, the focus remains firmly on enhancing efficiency and sustainability without compromising quality.

One of the most eagerly awaited unveilings is the introduction of RF6 technology from Reifenhäuser Reicofil. This latest generation of spunmelt production is poised to set new global standards by delivering higher throughput for the finest fibres while enabling user-friendly, low-maintenance operation.