Interviews
KORUS will hurt US economy & displace textile jobs
02 Jun '11
4 min read
The Korean threat has increased sharply in recent years by enormous subsidies the Korean government has poured into its advanced textile technology. The South Korean government has recently allocated $16 billion for specialty fabric manufacturing projects and another $5.6 billion on core technology for production of composite fibers and nano-textiles. This intervention by the Korean government into the marketplace threatens our technical sectors' ability to innovate and responsively supply the U.S. military and U.S. industry. In light of these policies, the government's decision to eliminate U.S. tariffs on technical textiles on day one of the agreement is deeply troubling.
Overall, Korea has substantial capability to produce finished goods for export, while they have limited ability to consume finished goods manufactured in the United States. Korea's consumer buying power is about equivalent to that of greater Los Angeles, California. As a result, we are greatly concerned about the KORUS agreement and the impact it will have on our industry and our ability to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Our principal concerns include accelerated tariff phase-outs that do not give U.S. producers time to adjust, non-reciprocal tariff phase-outs that favor the Korean textile industry in key products, and strong evidence that Customs' ability to enforce this agreement will be ineffective.
These concerns will have two simultaneous effects: 1) Korean textile producers will sharply increase exports of products to the U.S. industry while keeping their own industries safe behind tariff barriers, and 2) China will follow past practice and transship textile and apparel products at zero duty through Korea. Other major concerns include the vulnerability of key textile sectors to Korean dumped and undervalued goods and omissions in the rule of origin which allow Chinese producers to take advantage of the agreement to legally ship certain textile components under the agreement.
Click here for more details
Overall, Korea has substantial capability to produce finished goods for export, while they have limited ability to consume finished goods manufactured in the United States. Korea's consumer buying power is about equivalent to that of greater Los Angeles, California. As a result, we are greatly concerned about the KORUS agreement and the impact it will have on our industry and our ability to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Our principal concerns include accelerated tariff phase-outs that do not give U.S. producers time to adjust, non-reciprocal tariff phase-outs that favor the Korean textile industry in key products, and strong evidence that Customs' ability to enforce this agreement will be ineffective.
These concerns will have two simultaneous effects: 1) Korean textile producers will sharply increase exports of products to the U.S. industry while keeping their own industries safe behind tariff barriers, and 2) China will follow past practice and transship textile and apparel products at zero duty through Korea. Other major concerns include the vulnerability of key textile sectors to Korean dumped and undervalued goods and omissions in the rule of origin which allow Chinese producers to take advantage of the agreement to legally ship certain textile components under the agreement.
Click here for more details
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