The National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO) and the National Cotton Council (NCC) recently wrote to the chairs and ranking members of two key US congressional committees, voicing support for a timely extension of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), which expires on September 30. The House Ways and Means Committee’s sub-committee on trade is holding a hearing today on this trade preference programme.
The CBTPA has provided a structured system of textile and apparel duty preferences for certain countries– most notably Haiti– since it was implemented in 2000. US textile and cotton industries see significant benefits from the programme, which has helped establish an export market for US-grown cotton, US-spun yarn and other textile materials of US origin, NCTO said in a press release.The National Council of Textile Organisations and the National Cotton Council recently wrote to the chairs and ranking members of two US congressional committees, voicing support for a timely extension of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, which expires on September 30. A House Ways and Means Committee sub-committee is hearing the case today.#
The US content rule contained in CBTPA provides a mutual benefit to the US industry and the Caribbean Basin region economies.
The associations’ support is contingent upon the trade programme not being tied to other unrelated and harmful trade and tariff provisions as noted in their joint letter.
The letter was sent to House Ways and Means chairman Richard Neal and ranking member Kevin Brady, Senate finance chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Ron Wyden.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) along with a dozen other trade bodies recently urged US trade representative Robert E Lighthizer to support Congress to renew the CBTPA as soon as possible. CBTPA is structured in a way that reasonably balances the interests of US textile manufacturers with those of textile and apparel manufacturers in the region, the organisations said in their letter.
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