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09.08.2022

NCTO: North Carolina Textile Executives highlight Importance of Industry

North Carolina textile executives spanning the fiber, yarn, fabric, and finished product textile industries participated in a roundtable discussion with Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), at which they discussed the innovative achievements and competitiveness of the domestic industry and outlined priority issues in Washington that impact their daily operations.

The roundtable discussion, hosted by Unifi Inc. and sponsored by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), was held at Unifi’s headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.

North Carolina is the second largest state employer of textile-related jobs, employing more than 30,000 jobs in 2021, according to U.S. government data. The state’s $2.7 billion in textile-related exports leads the nation, according to U.S. government data.

Congresswoman Manning’s visit comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $65.2 billion in output in 2021 and employed nearly 535,000 workers. The industry has been at the forefront of domestic manufacturing of over 1 billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

North Carolina textile executives spanning the fiber, yarn, fabric, and finished product textile industries participated in a roundtable discussion with Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), at which they discussed the innovative achievements and competitiveness of the domestic industry and outlined priority issues in Washington that impact their daily operations.

The roundtable discussion, hosted by Unifi Inc. and sponsored by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), was held at Unifi’s headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.

North Carolina is the second largest state employer of textile-related jobs, employing more than 30,000 jobs in 2021, according to U.S. government data. The state’s $2.7 billion in textile-related exports leads the nation, according to U.S. government data.

Congresswoman Manning’s visit comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $65.2 billion in output in 2021 and employed nearly 535,000 workers. The industry has been at the forefront of domestic manufacturing of over 1 billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the roundtable, North Carolina executives showcased the industry’s important contribution to the state and the U.S. economy as well as its advanced sustainability initiatives, while outlining critical policies, such as the importance of Buy American and Berry Amendment government procurement policies, maintaining strong rules of origins in free trade agreements, supporting a domestic PPE production sector, and the need to address larger systemic trade issues with China.

“In North Carolina, the textile industry is woven into the very fabric of our state and economy, with more than 33,000 workers employed in over 600 textile manufacturing facilities across the state. In Congress, I am committed to supporting our homegrown industry by making PPE in America, protecting the yarn forward rule of origin in our trade agreements, and cracking down on China’s unfair trade practices. I am thrilled to engage with industry leaders in my district, as we discuss ways to grow the U.S. textile industry and the critical role that textile manufacturers play in our local, state, and national economy,” said Congresswoman Kathy Manning.

24.02.2022

NCTO: Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi visits Shawmut Corporation

Shawmut Corporation hosted Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi at the company’s headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in West Bridgewater, Mass., as part of the ambassador’s inaugural visit to textile manufacturing facilities in the New England area.

Ambassador Bianchi’s visit comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $64 billion in output in 2020 and employed nearly 530,000 workers. Shawmut Corporation is part of the broader U.S. textile industry that has been at the forefront of a domestic production chain that has collectively manufactured over one billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shawmut Corporation hosted Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi at the company’s headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in West Bridgewater, Mass., as part of the ambassador’s inaugural visit to textile manufacturing facilities in the New England area.

Ambassador Bianchi’s visit comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $64 billion in output in 2020 and employed nearly 530,000 workers. Shawmut Corporation is part of the broader U.S. textile industry that has been at the forefront of a domestic production chain that has collectively manufactured over one billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ambassador’s visit to Shawmut included a tour of the company’s manufacturing facility and a roundtable discussion highlighting the critical need for policies supporting a domestic supply chain and the innovative nature of the modern textile industry and its important contribution to the U.S. economy. Shawmut, a fourth-generation, family-run global advanced materials and textile manufacturer, is a global leader in automotive textile composites, innovative technical fabrics and custom laminating services, employing more than 700 employees worldwide with 10 global manufacturing plants and seven commercial offices. The company has also contributed greatly to U.S. PPE efforts, investing $20 million in a new state-of-the-art facility, which can produce up to 180 million NIOSH-approved N95 respirators and other PPE annually and created hundreds of new local jobs.

Ambassador Bianchi said, “Today’s tour of Shawmut’s manufacturing facilities and the roundtable discussion with textile industry executives was an invaluable opportunity for me to see innovative U.S. textile manufacturing first-hand, to learn more about the challenges that U.S. textile manufacturing faces, and to explore ways in which the Administration and industry can cooperate to support a worker-centric trade policy.”

During the visit, U.S. textile executives spanning the fiber, yarn, fabric, and finished product textile and apparel industries participated in a roundtable with the ambassador at which they discussed the innovative achievements and competitiveness of the domestic industry and outlined priority issues in Washington, such as the importance of Buy American and Berry Amendment government procurement policies, maintaining strong rules of origins in free trade agreements and the need to address larger systemic trade issues with China.

23.09.2021

NCTO: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai highlights U.S. Textile Industry

Milliken & Company and American & Efird (A&E) hosted United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai in two separate visits to the companies’ state-of-the-art textile manufacturing facilities, marking an unprecedented visit to the heart of the U.S. textile industry in the Carolinas by the nation’s top trade chief.

Ambassador Tai’s visit comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $64 billion in output in 2020 and employed nearly 530,000 workers. The industry has been at the forefront of a domestic production chain manufacturing over a billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Milliken & Company and American & Efird (A&E) hosted United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai in two separate visits to the companies’ state-of-the-art textile manufacturing facilities, marking an unprecedented visit to the heart of the U.S. textile industry in the Carolinas by the nation’s top trade chief.

Ambassador Tai’s visit comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $64 billion in output in 2020 and employed nearly 530,000 workers. The industry has been at the forefront of a domestic production chain manufacturing over a billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ambassador’s visit to Milliken included a tour of the company’s Magnolia plant in Blacksburg, S.C., and a roundtable discussion highlighting the important role women contribute to textiles, the critical need for policies supporting a domestic supply chain, and the significant impact of the sector to the U.S. economy. Milliken is one of the largest textile companies in the U.S., employing more than 6,000 associates domestically and an additional 1,350 associates globally. Milliken’s Textile Business alone employs 2,500 people across eight counties in South Carolina and is the fourth largest manufacturing employer in the Upstate.

On the second leg of her trip, Ambassador Tai visited American & Efird’s manufacturing facility in Mount Holly, N.C. American & Efird operates as part of Elevate Textiles and its global portfolio of advanced products and distinguished textile brands, including A&E, Burlington, Cone Denim, Gütermann and Safety Components, and representing more than 500 years of textile manufacturing knowledge.

During the visit, U.S. textile executives spanning the fiber, yarn, fabric, and finished product textile and apparel industry participated in a roundtable with the Ambassador at which they discussed the competitiveness of the domestic industry, outlined priority issues in Washington, such as the importance of the Western Hemisphere co-production chain and ways to jointly support domestic supply chains through Buy American and Berry Amendment policies that help onshore production, spur investment, maintain the safety and security of our armed forces and generate new jobs.

19.05.2021

NCTO testifies on the Medical Supply Chain and Pandemic Response Gaps

NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas testifies on “COVID-19 Part II: Evaluating the Medical Supply Chain and Pandemic Response Gaps, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

In written testimony submitted to the committee, Glas provides an overview of: the U.S. market prior to the pandemic and the root causes of America’s dependence on offshore sources for medical PPE; the heroic response of the U.S. textile industry; the federal government’s response to the crisis; and a series of policy recommendations to incentivize the establishment of a permanent domestic PPE supply chain.

Glas details key policy recommendations designed to establish a permanent domestic PPE supply chain, including:

NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas testifies on “COVID-19 Part II: Evaluating the Medical Supply Chain and Pandemic Response Gaps, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

In written testimony submitted to the committee, Glas provides an overview of: the U.S. market prior to the pandemic and the root causes of America’s dependence on offshore sources for medical PPE; the heroic response of the U.S. textile industry; the federal government’s response to the crisis; and a series of policy recommendations to incentivize the establishment of a permanent domestic PPE supply chain.

Glas details key policy recommendations designed to establish a permanent domestic PPE supply chain, including:

  • Create strong domestic procurement rules for federal PPE purchases and other essential products--substantially similar to the Berry Amendment and the Kissell Amendment which require 100% US content from fiber production forward
  • Implement forward-looking policies to shore up the Strategic National Stockpile and issue long-term contracts to incentivize investment in the domestic PPE manufacturing base
  • Create federal incentives for private sector hospitals and large provider networks to purchase domestically-produced PPE
  • Continue to deploy the Defense Production Act to shore up the textile industrial base from raw materials to end products for all essential products

View the full written testimony here.

29.04.2021

NCTO: Kim Glas testifies on Supply Chain Resiliency

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas is testifying on “Supply Chain Resiliency and the Role of Small Manufacturers” before the Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access.
 
In written testimony submitted to the committee, Glas provides an overview of the incredible resiliency of the U.S. textile industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the ensuing economic crisis, existing options available to small manufacturers to access capital, and policy recommendations to strengthen the entire industry domestic supply chain.

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas is testifying on “Supply Chain Resiliency and the Role of Small Manufacturers” before the Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access.
 
In written testimony submitted to the committee, Glas provides an overview of the incredible resiliency of the U.S. textile industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the ensuing economic crisis, existing options available to small manufacturers to access capital, and policy recommendations to strengthen the entire industry domestic supply chain.

“One silver lining associated with the immense challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis is that it afforded the domestic textile industry an opportunity to demonstrate its enormous resiliency, flexibility, and overall value to the U.S. economy,” Glas says in the testimony. “Despite the fact that there was virtually no [full] U.S. production of textile-based PPE prior to the pandemic, the heroic actions of domestic textile manufacturers resulted in the ability to supply homegrown PPE at the height of the greatest healthcare emergency our country has faced in the past 100 years.”

“As we exit the current crisis, rational federal policies are once again needed to ensure a stable overall environment where small businesses can compete and thrive, and targeted initiatives are required to ensure that domestic supply chains for critical materials, such as PPE, exist in the United States,” Glas notes.

Glas details five key policy recommendations supported by 20 trade associations and labor groups, representing the entire domestic supply chain aimed at strengthening the integrated U.S. textile sector:

  • Strengthen Buy American procurement rules
  • Provide funding assistance for companies to reconstitute domestic supply chains important to U.S. national and healthcare security
  • Key contracting reforms
  • Streamline the SBA loan application process
  • Provide additional funding for workforce training

Please view the full written testimony by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas here.

07.04.2021

NCTO: Importance of the U.S. Textile Industry to Lifesaving PPE & the Economy

National Council of Textiles Organization (NCTO) member Parkdale Mills hosted Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) at the company’s Magnolia Manufacturing plant in Hillsville, Va. today to showcase the critical role the company and the industry has played in producing lifesaving personal protective equipment (PPE) to aid frontline health-care workers and the country during the pandemic.

Parkdale’s facility in Hillsville, Va. is a key yarn spinning hub contributing to a major face mask initiative bringing together several U.S. companies and more than 5,000 workers as part of the Biden administration’s pledge to provide 25 million reusable face masks to communities hit hard by the pandemic.

National Council of Textiles Organization (NCTO) member Parkdale Mills hosted Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) at the company’s Magnolia Manufacturing plant in Hillsville, Va. today to showcase the critical role the company and the industry has played in producing lifesaving personal protective equipment (PPE) to aid frontline health-care workers and the country during the pandemic.

Parkdale’s facility in Hillsville, Va. is a key yarn spinning hub contributing to a major face mask initiative bringing together several U.S. companies and more than 5,000 workers as part of the Biden administration’s pledge to provide 25 million reusable face masks to communities hit hard by the pandemic.

“Parkdale Mills thanks Senator Kaine for his leadership on policies that help bolster our company and the entire textile industry. We are proud to be part of an initiative that is bringing together American companies to produce 100% American-made masks for community health centers, soup kitchens and food banks across the country,” said Davis Warlick of Parkdale Mills. “With the support of our government and leaders like Senator Kaine, our industry is demonstrating its ability and capacity to make critical items here for the long term.”

Kim Glas, President and CEO of NCTO said: “We want to sincerely thank Senator Kaine for his leadership in supporting American manufacturers, which have played a vital role in our economy as well as the nationwide effort to produce critical PPE and medical textiles for a nation in crisis. We are grateful to the senator and the Biden administration for prioritizing domestic manufacturers and the U.S. workforce. The U.S. textile industry is a vital contributor to the U.S economy and policies that Senator Kaine supports help bolster the onshoring of PPE and critical items, which in turn spurs employment and investment in the American manufacturing base.”

21.01.2021

NCTO welcomes President Biden’s action plan and Covid-19 Response

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement today welcoming President Biden’s action plan and COVID-19 response, accompanied by a series of executive orders, including an order signed today to strengthen U.S. supply chains by directing federal agencies to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to address shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and related vaccine supplies.

“We are closely reviewing President Biden’s national strategic plan to confront the pandemic and welcome the executive order signed today to strengthen our supply chains by directing all federal agencies to use the Defense Production Act to address shortages of personal protective equipment, vaccine supplies and essential products. These are important steps that will help ramp up critical manufacturing of these essential PPE products and other critically needed supplies like tests and vaccines.”

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement today welcoming President Biden’s action plan and COVID-19 response, accompanied by a series of executive orders, including an order signed today to strengthen U.S. supply chains by directing federal agencies to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to address shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and related vaccine supplies.

“We are closely reviewing President Biden’s national strategic plan to confront the pandemic and welcome the executive order signed today to strengthen our supply chains by directing all federal agencies to use the Defense Production Act to address shortages of personal protective equipment, vaccine supplies and essential products. These are important steps that will help ramp up critical manufacturing of these essential PPE products and other critically needed supplies like tests and vaccines.”

American manufacturers have been at the forefront of the effort to build a domestic PPE supply chain since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. textile industry retooled production and operations virtually overnight, producing millions of face masks, isolation gowns, testing swabs and other critical medical textiles.

The industry is dedicated to making significant investments in automated equipment for PPE, but the industry needs long-term, multiyear contracts to help realize that investment.

The deployment of DPA is one of the critical tools that will help incentivize investment in equipment, propel the hiring of U.S. workers and expand these critical production chains.

Since its inception, the DPA has been utilized by the Department of Defense to make critical investments in domestic textile manufacturing infrastructure and capacity, creating private-public partnerships through the government’s capital investments under the DPA and guaranteeing purchases through long-term contracts.  

NCTO applaud President Biden’s action and anticipate further steps including a reported order that will seek to strengthen government procurement of U.S. products in the coming days. NCTO appreciate President Biden outlining the “National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness” a series of actions and steps the administration will undertake to deploy and manufacture the vaccine and other essential products.

Source:

National Council of Textile Organizations

20.04.2020

NCTO Statement on Administration’s 90-Day Tariff Deferral

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber through finished products, issued a statement from NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas today, voicing concern over the administration’s executive order instituting a non-reciprocal 90-day deferral on certain tariffs.
The temporary postponement of duties does not apply to products with antidumping or countervailing duties or those products subject to penalty duties under Section 232, 201 and 301.

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber through finished products, issued a statement from NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas today, voicing concern over the administration’s executive order instituting a non-reciprocal 90-day deferral on certain tariffs.
The temporary postponement of duties does not apply to products with antidumping or countervailing duties or those products subject to penalty duties under Section 232, 201 and 301.

“At a time when domestic textile producers and its workforce have mobilized to transform their production lines to manufacture the personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies for frontline healthcare and medical workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration’s decision to defer duties for 90 days on the vast majority of products imported into the United States is counterproductive.
This move contradicts the administration’s top stated priority of rebuilding American manufacturing and buying American and could have severe negative implications for the entire U.S. textile industry, whose companies and workforce already are facing enormous economic hardship.
We support the need to temporarily eliminate barriers to the entry of emergency medical supplies and certain PPE inputs tied directly to the COVID-19 response. But make no mistake, the key drivers behind efforts to defer tariffs have nothing to do with facilitating access to PPE products or stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Our industry is being asked to do extraordinary things.  We are heeding that call, but we need help to ensure the supply chains we are creating overnight don’t evaporate tomorrow.  We need strong procurement policies and additional funding for our industries to ramp up and retool – not further measures that incentivize offshore production. We need to maximize the U.S. domestic production chain right now to every extent possible in helping fight COVID-19 and make the products American frontline workers desperately need.  

We need to provide immediate and substantial relief to our manufacturing sector and their workforce who are suffering enormously right now. It’s critical that we have a long-term U.S. government plan to ensure that we aren’t relying on offshore producers to make medically necessary, live-saving PPE.  We shouldn’t be providing handouts to reward the very companies that helped offshore these industries so many years ago.

Tariffs are one of the few mechanisms in place to help partially address the challenges U.S. manufacturers face in competing with imports from countries with exceptionally low wages, poor working conditions, and minimal environmental and safety standards.”, states the NCTO.

 

Source:

NCTO

02.04.2020

NCTO Statement on Administration’s Reported Tariff Deferral

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber through finished products, issued a statement from NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas today in response to the administration’s plan to institute a 90-day deferral on MFN tariffs,  as reported by numerous press outlets.

The reported plan being pushed by the importing and retailing industries would defer certain tariffs, including those on finished apparel products. It is an ill-advised policy that will hurt the U.S. textile industry at the very time it is answering the call of the nation to produce medical supplies to battle the coronavirus pandemic. 

These unnecessary tariff concessions would benefit importers and retailers at the direct expense of manufacturers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response and send a demoralizing message.

Tariff deferrals would severely exacerbate ramifications for the U.S. economy, manufacturers and workers and open the floodgates for imports.

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber through finished products, issued a statement from NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas today in response to the administration’s plan to institute a 90-day deferral on MFN tariffs,  as reported by numerous press outlets.

The reported plan being pushed by the importing and retailing industries would defer certain tariffs, including those on finished apparel products. It is an ill-advised policy that will hurt the U.S. textile industry at the very time it is answering the call of the nation to produce medical supplies to battle the coronavirus pandemic. 

These unnecessary tariff concessions would benefit importers and retailers at the direct expense of manufacturers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response and send a demoralizing message.

Tariff deferrals would severely exacerbate ramifications for the U.S. economy, manufacturers and workers and open the floodgates for imports.

If the U.S. government makes tariff concessions during this crisis, it will be inviting a virtual tsunami of imports further devastating domestic manufacturing as it attempts to regain its footing.     

We urge the administration to abandon any moves to defer tariffs on finished products. It would only serve to allow importers to exploit the current crisis, while dealing a severe blow to U.S. manufacturing and its workers.  

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers. 

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 585,240 in 2019. 
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $75.8 billion in 2019. 
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $29.1 billion in 2019. 
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.5 billion in 2018, the last year for which data is available.
More information:
NCTO Coronavirus
Source:

NCTO