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textiles | garments

With an eye on TPP, garment companies flock to Vietnam
16-Apr-2014
As China and its workers get wealthier, global manufacturers are looking south for less expensive places to do business. But Cambodia faces labor strikes. The Thai government suffers endless protests. Burma, also known as Myanmar, needs infrastructure updates. As a result, many companies are setting their sights on Vietnam.
FTA with China next boost for Lankan apparel sector: JAAF
21-Jan-2014
Efforts to drive the Sri Lankan apparel sector into a new growth phase may hinge on the success of the potential free trade agreement (FTA) in the offing with China, according to Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) Secretary General Tuli Cooray.
TPP, TTIP could alter US textile & apparel trade
5-Jan-2014 Fibre2fashion
From the view of the textiles and apparel industries, all eyes will be on whether a yarn-forward provision has been included or not in the final documents.
US cut of trade privilege angers Bangladesh
28-Jun-2013 AJE
Bangladesh has criticised the decision by the United States to cut trade privileges in the wake of a deadly garment factory collapse, insisting it had taken concrete action to improve safety.
US suspends trade benefits for Bangladesh over safety
28-Jun-2013 Reuters
President Barack Obama cut off long-time US trade benefits for Bangladesh on Thursday in a mostly symbolic response to conditions in the country’s garment industry that have cost more than 1,200 lives in the past year.
Central America lures sportswear makers as Adidas shifts orders
23-Dec-2011 Bloomberg
Sportswear producers such as Adidas are turning to Central America to complement China as a source for apparel as the region’s proximity to the US allows for quick turnaround of orders during peak seasons.
Pakistan exploring PTA prospects to boost garment exports
5-Nov-2011
Eyeing to boost its garment and other textile items exports, the Government of Pakistan is exploring the prospects of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with various countries.
’Save Act’ skips Obama’s FTAs
24-Oct-2011 MB
President Barack Obama on Friday signed three, and possibly the last of his administration, free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, but skipped the Philippines proposed “Save Our Industries Act,” which the Aquino administration hoped to become a rider in one of these trade bills.
Pakistan: Faces further delays in US trade talks
22-Sep-2011 just-style.com
As the fifth round of talks on the Pak-US Trade Investment Facilitation Agreement (TIFA) began in Islamabad on Tuesday (20 September), Pakistani delegates have taken a tough stance to demand better trade arrangements with the US.
US lawmakers worried on Vietnam textiles in pact
6-Jun-2011
More than 50 lawmakers voiced concern Wednesday about opening the US market to Vietnam’s textiles under a proposed Pacific Rim trade pact, saying the move would devastate the domestic industry.
CAFTA-DR partners agree to fix technical flaws in agreement
15-Mar-2011
The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States (CAFTA-DR) Free Trade Commission has approved several changes to CAFTA-DR rules of origin that are expected to benefit the Western Hemisphere textile/apparel supply chain.
CAFTA-DR partners agree to fix technical flaws in agreement
2-Mar-2011
The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Commission held its first meeting last week in El Salvador and approved several changes to CAFTA-DR rules of origin
Textile groups oppose KORUS FTA
2-Feb-2011 Textile World
Five organizations representing interests of the US textile industry have sent a letter to members of Congress urging defeat of the pending US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and a campaign has begun to include the voices of the wider community in a grassroots expression of opposition to the treaty.
U.S. lawmakers ask for revision to S. Korea FTA textile clause
8-Aug-2010
U.S. lawmakers have asked for a revision to the textile clause in the free trade agreement (FTA) signed with South Korea in 2007, congressional sources said Friday.
Blaming China: Indonesian garment makers say free trade pact leaves them on brink of collapse
26-Apr-2010
Mufardi Rusli’s neighbors hunch over tables covered in brightly colored fabric, the whirring of their sewing machines echoing across his Jakarta neighborhood. For Rusli, the sound is a bitter reminder of the $2 line of jackets that bankrupted him, costing him a garment business it took 15 years to build.
NTA sees danger in administrations plans for TPP Agreement
26-Mar-2010 NTA
The US National Textile Association is worried that the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement could undermine the basis for textile rules of origin in US FTAs and that if more APEC members join the US will be outvoted.
Mari Rebuffs Free Trade Agreement Criticism
19-Jan-2010
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu on Monday dismissed criticism that she had been slow to respond to concerns about the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement, insisting the ministry has been engaged in “informal communications” about the deal with Asean.
We need to be more careful in future
11-Oct-2009
It is normal for trade agreements to have a political overtone. The Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) initiated by the USA during the 1990s are a good example of this. Its FTAs with Caribbean, South American, North American and African countries covered ‘substantially all the trade’ as required under the WTO norms, but in practice they were all textile-centric , providing for duty-free import of apparel products manufactured out of raw materials obtained from the USA.
Free trade delay with China sought: Ministry
13-Jul-2009 Jakarta Post
Bowing to pressure from textile producers, Indonesia’s Industry Ministry has agreed to reassess the costs and benefits of the China-ASEAN free trade agreement, and may even propose a postponement.
"We oppose free trade negotiations with Vietnam" - Johnson, NCTO
5-Mar-2009 Fibre2Fashion
At a hearing on proposed free trade negotiations with countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership area (TPP), the US National Council of Textile Organisations opposed the proposed inclusion of Vietnam in the negotiations and said the textile industry would oppose any agreement that included Vietnam.