The U.S. textile industry and the labor union UNITE HERE joined together in the strong opposition to the trade provisions in the New Partnership for Development Act (NPDA) of 2007.
Specific concerns center on a section of the bill which grants nearly one billion dollars in U.S. tariff exemptions to surging imports from Bangladesh and Cambodia at the expense of struggling textile and apparel producers in Africa, Central America and in the United States.
China is also a major beneficiary as it supplies almost all the yarns and fabrics used in Bangladeshi and Cambodian apparel exports.
According to an analysis of U.S. government trade statistics, the legislation, whose stated purpose is to provide important global development objectives, will actually cause widespread job losses in least developed and developing countries that depend on the US market for billions of dollars in apparel exports.
Workers in the U.S. textile industry will also be hard hit because the industry exports $12 billion in yarns and fabrics to these countries.
Noting that the chief sponsor of the bill, Jim McDermott of Washington, is a leading Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, Bruce Raynor, General President of UNITE HERE said,
Before any more trade deals are passed I call on the Congress to ensure that the benefits of expanding trade are broadly shared. That means that there should be a pause on all trade deals until we have a credible program to reduce our massive trade deficit, create middle class jobs in this country and protect American workers by creating a real safety net.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
