From the Sector

Textile and nonwoven associations issued a joint statement today urging federal, state and local governments to deem textile and nonwoven manufacturing facilities as “essential” when drafting “Shelter in Place” orders in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Our associations recognize the serious challenges our elected officials, health administrators, and others are facing when issuing orders to protect communities across the country and we understand the necessity for leaders to enforce a ‘Shelter in Place” order or quarantine orders.

Our members make a broad range of inputs and finished products used in an array of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical nonwoven/textile supplies, including surgical gowns, face masks, antibacterial wipes, lab coats, blood pressure cuffs, cotton swabs and hazmat suits. These items are vital to the government’s effort to ramp up emergency production of these critical supplies.

If workers who produce these goods are not granted an “essential” exemption from “Shelter in Place” and other quarantine orders to go to their manufacturing and distribution facilities, it will cause major disruptions in the availability of these goods. This will create significant hardship to healthcare providers and consumers across the country who depend on steady and stable supplies of these critical items.

We are asking the administration and state and local authorities to provide greater certainty and clarity for our companies and employees and ask for a clear exclusion of our manufacturing operations from “Shelter in Place” orders as the textile and nonwoven products that we make in the U.S. play an essential role in mitigating the shortages of critical supplies. Such a designation will help us avoid disruptions of vital goods and services during this challenging time.

Rejects Importer Attempts to Remove China 301 Tariffs on Finished Products

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum U.S. textiles from fiber through finished sewn products, issued a statement today welcoming the Trump administration’s proposals on an economic stimulus package to gird the economy against the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, but the organization urged officials to reject any attempts by importers to remove China 301 tariffs on finished products as part of any relief package.

As part of a Phase One deal with China, the administration reduced duties on finished apparel and textile products implemented on Sept.1 from 15 percent to 7.5 percent. Finished apparel, home furnishings and other made-up textile goods equate to 93.5 percent of U.S. imports from China in the sector; while fiber, yarn, and fabric imports from China only represent 6.5 percent, according to government data.

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 594,147 in 2018.

• The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $76.8 billion in 2018.

• U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $30.1 billion in 2018.

• Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.0 billion in 2017, the last year for which data is available.