New global textile coalition

A new group, the Textile and Apparel Alliance for Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) was formed and represents nearly two million agricultural and manufacturing workers from 30 counties and a supply chain value of USD 25 billion

It represents the fibre, textile and apparel industries. The Alliance was formed to support the American negotiating position on Textiles – Washington and it is urging the US Trade Representative Ambassador Kirk to include pro-job, pro-private industry and pro-export rules in the ongoing TPP negotiations. The Alliance was formed because Vietnam is demanding new rules on textiles origin beyond the ones existing in Free Trade Agreements thus endangering jobs, factories and exports in the US as well as in those other 30 countries.

The coalition voices the opinion that the new rules demanded would provide Vietnamese state owned apparel manufacturers with a direct access to China’s massive state-run textile enterprises to create apparel and other products and to export those duty free to all other TPP countries. Consequently the closure of thousands of privately held manufacturing plants in these 30 countries (Africa, Middle East, Central and South America and Mexico) would be at stake and hundreds of thousand jobs would be endangered. The exports to America from those countries increased in the last three years by USD 2.7 billion and American exports to these nations grew by USD 2.9 billion.