Bloomberg Exposé on Shein Reveals Clothing Contains Banned Forced-Labor Cotton, Underscores Urgency to Close a U.S. Loophole

Bloomberg News has published a hard-hitting investigative story this week that released findings of lab testing results that confirms certain clothing sold by e-commerce juggernaut Shein has been found to contain banned cotton produced with forced labor from the Xinjiang region of China.  Furthermore, the story details how Shein is utilizing a trade loophole called “de minimis” that is facilitating the entry of these banned products into the U.S. market with minimal scrutiny.

The Bloomberg feature story by reporter Sheridan Prasso titled, “Shein’s Cotton Tied to Chinese Region Accused of Forced Labor,” outlines how “laboratory testing conducted for Bloomberg News on two occasions this year found that garments shipped to the U.S. by Shein were made with cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.”

The exposé chronicles how cotton grown and harvested by Xinjiang forced labor continues to bleed into global textile and apparel supply chains and is further facilitated by a little-known trade loophole called the “Section 321 de minimis exception”. This exception, which is routinely utilized by Shein and certain other e-commerce companies, allows imports valued under $800 to come into the United States with minimal review and without paying duties, taxes, and fees.

Through this massive and rapidly growing loophole, approximately 2.7 million individual shipments falling below an $800 value enter the U.S. market each day, according to the latest data. In fact, the U.S. is on record pace for 1 billion de minimis shipments this year alone.

The explosion in e-commerce shipments using the Section 321 tariff waivers spawned new companies, like Shein, to create a multi-billion-dollar empire built on the foundation of a legal, but severely damaging tariff loophole.

We don’t know who is making these products, if they are safe, or if they use forced labor. In fact, unbelievably, these products get rewarded duty-free status. What’s the point of a free trade agreement with high labor and environmental standards, if there is a “click here” workaround that facilitates a race to the bottom?

According to the report, Agroisolab GmbH in Jülich, Germany, tested the garments using stable isotope analysis, “which measures variations in the isotopes of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen present in the cotton’s fibers to indicate the altitude and other climate characteristics of the region where it was grown.”

The lab compared Shein’s cotton fabric with fabric from Xinjiang that Bloomberg obtained from a U.S. apparel company with operations in China. A second test compared the Shein item with another sample the lab had previously obtained from Xinjiang, according to the Bloomberg report.

“We have to conclude it is a typical sample from Xinjiang, China,” Agroisolab’s CEO Markus Boner told Bloomberg.

The test results also ruled out “with more than 95% probability” several other cotton-growing regions, including India, Egypt, Australia, the U.S. and China’s Shandong province, according to the story.

Congress overwhelmingly supported and passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) banning products made of forced labor, including Xinjiang cotton. This law took effect in January 2021. Yet, this loophole in our tariff structure, has created an enormous workaround that is allowing these banned forced labor products to  make their way to our doorsteps and into our closets on a daily basis.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who has authored and continues to push for key legislation to help close this loophole, has noted: “This loophole also makes it easier for people to import illegal goods and harmful products, because there is virtually no way to tell whether these packages contain products made through forced labor, intellectual property theft, or are otherwise dangerous.”

Until Congress and/or the administration acts to close the de minimis loophole, Chinese companies like Shein will continue to run a speeding train right through this loophole tunnel.

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has been very active over the past several years working in a broad coalition to amplify the urgent need for the administration and Congress to use their authorities to close this enormous trade gap.

In congressional testimony before the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee last December, I outlined recommendations for Congress aimed at confronting unfair Chinese trade practices, including closing the de minimis loophole.

We must ensure this loophole is addressed immediately to combat the use of forced labor in China and in other areas of the world. Failure to address the de minimis loophole will continue an “open door” policy that invites China and others to ship duty free to the United States illegal and unsafe products that undermine American businesses and jobs, while also diluting any efforts to rein in its abhorrent human rights abuses.

What cannot be ignored is that these practices and this loophole continue to hurt domestic manufacturers, undermine our forced labor laws, and weaken our carefully negotiated free agreement trade structure.

This is why we need Congress and the administration to urgently act and make the policy changes we need to close this damaging loophole once and for all.

Valdese Weavers: Taking Sustainability to the Next Level

Valdese Weavers has been working with recycled yarns for nearly 20 years but in a bid to elevate its sustainability profile, the company turned to the SEAQUAL INITIATIVE based in Spain.

A leading fabric and textile producer that has been manufacturing residential and contract textiles for the furniture market in the foothills of North Carolina for more than 100 years, Valdese Weavers is widely considered to be an industry leader for designing and innovatively weaving beautiful decorative fabrics.

While the company takes pride in being a Made-in-USA manufacturer, one of its loftier goals has been to minimize its impact on the environment and the planet’s natural resources.

Valdese Weavers has used yarns recycled from plastic bottles for the past two decades to produce its environmentally-conscious products, especially in its contract division, but company officials began searching a few years ago for new ways to expand their sustainability efforts and achieve more innovative, sustainably-minded solutions to attack the existing problem of ocean pollution.

Fast forward to today and the journey has led Valdese to a dizzying array of new initiatives, including: a licensing arrangement with a Spanish non-profit organization named the SEAQUAL INITIATIVE; the launch of a new line of performance fabrics made from recycled ocean fabrics, InsideOut Performance Fabrics®; a collaboration with an award-winning artist; and a museum exhibit that opened on Friday (Nov. 4) at the Hickory Museum of Art in Hickory, N.C.

“We have been trying to find next steps of sustainability in terms of materials for several years,” says Christy Almond, vice president of product development and marketing at Valdese Weavers. “We have said ‘no’ to a lot of product material ideas that did not have an authentic story or durability, did not meet where we felt industry was headed, had inconsistent supply chains, or the price was out of line.”

In 2018, Valdese discovered the SEAQUAL INITIATIVE. After studying the non- profit organization’s mission, Almond says Valdese determined it could “take our recycling story to the next level.”

This organization founded on creating a collaborative community against pollution has brought together an extensive network of individuals, organizations, and companies “working together to help clean our oceans, raise awareness of the issue of marine litter and highlight those helping to fight it.”

“Their goal is to organize the individual organizations, cleanup committees and fishermen to bring their cleanup efforts together to incentivize them, clean up oceans, collect ocean trash, and use collective power to go to recycling agencies to process products and sort through it to use materials that can ultimately be upcycled,” Almond explains.

To view the entire process—from collection of ocean plastic waste to the production of the end product of Valdese Inside Out Performance fabrics, click here.

“When we met with SEAQUAL before COVID they were in 42 countries and now they are in 60 countries,” Almond says. “The amount of waste and upcycled materials has dramatically increased. We know they are making a difference.”

SEAQUAL has processed 600 tons of marine litter from the ocean. Of that total, the organization has transformed 200 tons of plastic into upcycled marine plastic and yarn for companies like Valdese to use.

“They actually embed the yarn with tracers, so that they know it is authentic. They are very serious about that process and they have certification at each of the steps in the supply chain that companies must adhere to,” Almond says. “As their network cleanup committees and processing grows, we are hoping that is going to continue to increase as more material becomes available.”

Hundreds of global brands and retailers are listed as licensing partners with SEAQUAL on its website, including such well-known retailers as American Eagle Outfitters, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Ikea.

“We had seen a lot of different ocean plastic stories out there. No one had this multi-faceted story about cleaning up the ocean, upcycling and properly disposing of the trash,” she said. “It’s one thing to sift through and take out the parts that you want, but you are not really making a difference.”

SEAQUAL, on the other hand, properly disposes of the ocean materials that are not recyclable.

“Taking on new yarn SKUs is an investment. To meet their 20 percent content, we had to invest in the right tools to get that content assured. In terms of raw materials, we felt like it was in line with our existing cost structure,” Almond notes.

Valdese Weaver’s goal is to expand development with SEAQUAL and bring awareness to the initiative and “challenge our industry to think about sustainable materials.”

“Just regular upcycled plastic is not enough,” Almond notes. “How do we move this journey forward? More needs to be done.”

One way to move the story forward is to partner with an award-winning artist and amplify the story to the public.

SEAQUAL and Valdese Featured in Museum Exhibit

That’s just what Valdese and SEAQUAL have done.

Valdese is collaborating with MacArthur Genius Award winning artist, Mel Chin, as part of an exhibit at the Hickory Museum of Art in Hickory, N.C. “to promote the power of design to fuel change in our industry.”

Chin, an ecologically and environmentally-minded artist, has been behind projects seeking to raise awareness on issues such as contaminated soil in New Orleans and abandoned homes in Detroit.

The Hickory Museum of Art has opened a new exhibit highlighting the problem of ocean pollution, in conjunction with an experiential exhibit, SEA to SEE, that has been created by Chin and is housed at the Mint Museum in Charlotte.

The Valdese exhibit at the Hickory Museum showcases the company’s partnership with the SEAQUAL INITIATIVE and explains how the company and the furniture industry is working together to help solve the problem of ocean pollution.

“We bring so many people through our facility to train them on the textile process, including salespeople with furniture manufacturers, furniture dealers, and large-scale retailers. These are big companies that are trying to help their sales team understand how to sell fabrics. I thought it would be great to connect our SEAQUAL story with what is happening at the museum and tell a bigger picture story about how the industry is using design to propel change,” Almond says.

“Textiles get a bad rap, not just in terms of manufacturing, especially if you’ve grown up in a textile town. You’ve seen and heard people lose jobs that go to China, or say that furniture is not a reliable career, or that furniture is not an innovative industry,” she adds.

“We wanted this exhibit to highlight technology and design and innovation and cool things happening in this community that are impacting not just Hickory but the United States.”

Barnet Hosts Congressman Greg Murphy (R-N.C.); Highlights the Importance of Supporting Policies that Bolster the Competitiveness of the U.S. Textile Industry

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) met with executives at William Barnet & Son LLC (Barnet) and toured a facility in Kinston, N.C. today, where the company’s innovation, advances in sustainable practices and its important contribution to the North Carolina economy were on full display. Congressman Murphy’s visit is critical and comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $65.2 billion in output in 2021 and employed nearly 535,000 workers. Barnet is part of the broader industry that is a major factor in high-tech and sustainable innovation in the production of everything from heart valves and stents to aircraft bodies and advanced body armor. Barnet is a global manufacturing, recycling, and trading company, specializing in a wide range of fibers, polymers and yarns. Founded in Albany, N.Y. in 1898 by William Barnet, the company has been dedicated to a vision of being the world’s most respected, creative, versatile and sustainable solution provider to its customers and suppliers. The company currently employs over 400 employees worldwide. During the discussion with Congressman Murphy, Barnet executives discussed several policy priorities that have far-reaching implications for North Carolina and the entire U.S. textile industry. They also outlined the importance of policies aimed at bolstering onshoring and nearshoring production, closing a legal loophole in U.S. trade law that continues to undermine American manufacturing and gives China an advantage, and U.S. trade policy on China. “We are honored to have hosted Dr. Murphy at our Kinston facility today,” said Chuck Hall, president of Barnet. “The opportunity to discuss important policies that impact not only our everyday business operations but the entire industry’s operations is invaluable. It is critical that U.S. trade policy centers around keeping the industry competitive. In particular, we discussed the need to maintain China 301 penalty tariffs, to fix a loophole in U.S. trade law known as the de minimis mechanism, which allows a package of goods valued at $800 or less per person to come into the country duty free every day and gives China backdoor access to the U.S. market, and to find a better process for renewing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) which allows U.S. manufacturers duty-free access to raw materials that are no longer produced within our borders. We look forward to continuing to the work with the congressman on policies that help drive onshoring and nearshoring to the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere and those that support strong government procurement and American-made products.” “It was wonderful to meet with Barnet’s officials and tour their impressive textile facility today. North Carolina’s textile industry is a huge driver for our economy, directly employing nearly 40,000 workers and generating over $2.7 billion in textile-related exports,” said Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. “I am grateful to the industry leaders who took the time to discuss how we can expand this great industry, grow our state’s economy, and protect domestic manufacturing.”

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NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 534,000 in 2021.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.2 billion in 2021.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $28.4 billion in 2021.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $1.85 billion in 2020, the last year for which data is available.
Download Release CONTACT: Kristi Ellis Vice President, Communications National Council of Textile Organizations kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

NCTO New Members: American Fashion Network

NCTO welcomes the American Fashion Network (AFN) as its newest member! AFN has served the apparel industry as a source for design and production expertise for over 17 years. Listen as CEO & Founder Jackie Ferrari discusses her reasons for joining NCTO.

Washington Update: Homecoming by Rana Foroohar

NCTO celebrates the release of “Homecoming” by Rana Foroohar, a global business columnist for the Financial Times. Her book outlines why globalization has not delivered on countless economic promises & examines the shift toward localization taking hold in industries like textiles.

NCTO New Members: Gherzi USA

NCTO welcomes its newest member, Gherzi USA. Gherzi USA is the U.S. branch of Gherzi Organization, a leading textile consulting firm that has provided strategic planning and brand management to the global textile industry for over 90 years. Hear from Gherzi USA Partner & Manager Robert Antoshak in the video above.

U.S. Textiles: MMI Textile’s 25th Anniversary

Ohio-based textile manufacturer MMI Textiles celebrates its 25th year in business! Listen to CEO & Founder Amy Bircher discuss the company’s beginnings and future goals and the importance of making textiles in America. Happy 25th anniversary from NCTO!

Textile Executives Highlight Importance of Industry & Urge Support of Policies Bolstering U.S. Competitiveness at Roundtable with Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC)

WASHINGTON, DC – Textile executives spanning the fiber, yarn, fabric, and finished product textile industries participated in a roundtable discussion with Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) today. During the roundtable executives showcased the industry’s innovation, advances in sustainable practices and its important contribution to the North Carolina and the U.S. economy, while raising several priority issues in Washington that have far-reaching implications for North Carolina and the entire U.S. textile industry. The roundtable discussion, hosted by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), was held at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. North Carolina is the second largest state employer of textile-related jobs with over 36,000 workers, and those jobs play a vital role in supporting 108,000 additional jobs throughout the state. The state’s $2.7 billion in textile-related exports leads the nation. During the roundtable, executives outlined critical policies, such as the importance of maintaining the yarn forward rules of origin in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and other trade agreements, advancing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and its importance to domestic manufacturers, upholding buy American and Berry Amendment government procurement policies, ensuring the administration is implementing the “Make PPE in America Act” as intended, and the need to address larger systemic trade issues, particularly the use of forced labor, with China. Congressman Murphy’s visit is critical and comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. textile supply chain, which produced $65.2 billion in output in 2021 and employed nearly 535,000 workers. The industry has been at the forefront of domestic manufacturing of over 1 billion personal protective equipment (PPE) items during the COVID-19 pandemic. “North Carolina’s textile industry is a huge driver for our economy, directly employing nearly 40,000 workers and generating over $2.7 billion in textile-related exports,” said Rep. Murphy, M.D. “I was grateful to hear from so many outstanding industry leaders during our roundtable today, and I am confident that we have the tools needed to bolster this great industry in our state. As the proud representative for North Carolina on the Ways and Means Committee, it’s an honor to work alongside NCTO to promote American jobs, grow our state economy, and protect domestic manufacturing.” NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas said, “We sincerely appreciate Rep. Murphy’s participation in today’s industry roundtable, where he heard directly from textile executives with operations in North Carolina about opportunities and challenges confronting the industry. North Carolina has a vibrant textile industry, which employs technologically advanced and highly innovative operations, to produce a vast array of products, including high-tech components for everything from heart valves and stents to aircraft bodies and advanced body armor for our warfighters to critical PPE for the government and private sector. The importance of the U.S. textile industry to the U.S. economy and job growth cannot be overstated. That is why it is imperative that we have sound trade and government procurement policies that not only supports domestic production but also bolster our integrated coproduction chain with our Western Hemisphere trading partners. We look forward to continuing to work with Congressman Murphy on policies that: spur investment in North Carolina, the United States and the entire hemisphere; support strong government procurement policies centered around American-made products; and lead to strong enforcement of illegal trade practices that continue to give China and other countries backdoor to the U.S. market.”

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NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 534,000 in 2021.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.2 billion in 2021.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $28.4 billion in 2021.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $1.85 billion in 2020, the last year for which data is available.
DOWNLOAD RELEASE CONTACT: Kristi Ellis Vice President, Communications National Council of Textile Organizations kellis@ncto.org |  202.684.3091

Washington Update: NC – Honduran Universities Memorandum of Understanding – August 24, 2022

NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas was at Gaston College earlier this week to voice support for a Memorandum of Understanding signed between North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles, Gaston College and Catawba Valley Community College and Honduran-based Central American Technological University (UNITEC).

“The intention of this MOU is to help develop the next generation workforce both here in the Unites States and in Honduras with the hope of expanding this to other parts of Central America with the necessary funding,” Glas says in this clip.

The groundbreaking initiative will launch a series of educational workforce development programs, ranging from training and certificate programs to undergraduate and graduate degrees in textile-related areas of study.

Notably, the MOU has the support of the U.S. Department of State, which issued a statement of support on Monday in conjunction with a visit by Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment.

Jennifer Knight, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Textiles, Consumer Goods and Materials at the U.S. Department of Commerce and Hector Zelaya, private secretary to Honduran President Xiomara Castro also traveled to the event in support of the new initiative.

The partnership will benefit businesses and workers in North Carolina, Honduras and Central America, and enhance the industry’s ability to compete in the global marketplace.

A co-production chain has been forged between Central America and the U.S. Those links are due to the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which allows textiles and apparel from Central America to enter the U.S. duty free. It has generated $12.6 billion in two-way trade in the textile sector and now supports more than 1 million jobs in the U.S. and the region – and 36,000 in North Carolina alone.

North Carolina businesses and higher education institutions are partnering with their counterparts in Honduras and Central America and showing how to expand their reach. The next generation of textile workers – and the communities that prosper from a thriving textile industry – will be the beneficiaries.

U.S. Educational Institutions Partner with Honduran University to Educate and Train Thousands of Students for Textile Jobs as Nearshoring and Onshoring Drives Historic Investments and Job Growth

WASHINGTON – North Carolina educational institutions are joining forces with a key Honduran university to educate and train thousands of students for the next generation textile workforce to meet a rising tide of nearshoring and onshoring in Honduras, Central America and the United States. With backing from the U.S. Department of State, North Carolina State University, Gaston College, and Catawba Valley Community College signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Honduran-based Central American Technological University (UNITEC) today at a signing ceremony at Gaston College in Dallas, N.C. High-level U.S. and Honduran government officials, including: Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment; Jennifer Knight, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods and Materials at the U.S. Department of Commerce; and Hector Zelaya, private secretary to Honduran President Xiomara Castro, participated in a roundtable discussion with textile executives and educational leaders as well as today’s MOU signing ceremony. The U.S. Department of State issued a statement of public support today for the MOU and the unique collaboration between the U.S. and Honduran institutions. The groundbreaking initiative will launch a series of educational workforce development programs, ranging from training and certificate programs to undergraduate and graduate degrees, in textile-related areas of study. The partnership comes at a defining moment for the U.S., Honduras and Central America, which are seeing historical levels of investment in textile and apparel production stemming from a global supply chain crisis that has driven a significant shift in sourcing out of Asia to the U.S. and the region. Nearly $1 billion of historic textile and apparel investment is anticipated in the U.S. and Central America this year alone. And this partnership also creates an educational pathway to economic opportunity in Honduras and the region that not only creates a skilled and resilient workforce but can also help to address the root causes of irregular migration. Current growth projections indicate a need for more than 10,000 new skilled workers in the textile industry in Honduras alone over the next five years. In order to meet these needs, educational programming is needed at all levels. The U.S. and this region are inextricably linked through a textile and apparel co-production chain under the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) that has generated $12.6 billion in annual two-way trade in the sector and supports 1 million workers in the U.S. and the region. North Carolina plays a central role in this co-production chain. It is the second largest state for textile employment nationally with over 36,000 workers, and the state’s $2.7 billion in textile-related exports leads the nation. The Northern Triangle, including Honduras, is a major export destination for U.S. yarns and fabrics that come back as finished items under the U.S.-CAFTA-DR trade agreement. In addition to participating in the signing ceremony and the earlier industry roundtable, Under Secretary Fernandez, Deputy Assistant Secretary Knight and Secretary Zelaya toured two of Gildan’s yarn-spinning facilities in Salisbury, N.C., a leading apparel manufacturer that has invested over $700 million since 2013 across its network of yarn-spinning facilities in the United States. “The MOU signed today is a win on so many levels. Firstly, it is a win for U.S. textile manufacturers who operate in both the U.S. and Central America as they build more resilient and economically and environmentally sustainable supply chains. Secondly, it’s a win for the Wilson College of Textiles and NC State in advancing its land-grant mission to support economic prosperity and provide transformative opportunities for people of all ages in North Carolina and beyond in collaboration with our community college partners and now UNITEC in Honduras,” said David Hinks, Dean of the Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University. “Together we will train the next generation of textile workers, leaders and academics in this critical production chain. These workforce programs will have a ripple effect throughout Central America, the region and the United States, spurring job growth and more investment, and not just in textiles and apparel. Hundreds of our industry partners that work with our college closely are looking to re-engineer their supply chains out of China to the United States and Central America. This new partnership will provide a near seamless educational and training pathway to building an even stronger textile and apparel co-production chain between the U.S. and CAFTA-DR countries, which collectively supports 1.1 million workers.” “This is an incredible opportunity to build a partnership and bridge between U.S. educational institutions and UNITEC. Through this collaboration, we will develop education and workforce training programs that will support the vibrant textile and apparel co-production chain between Honduras and the United States,” said Dr. John Hauser, President of Gaston College. “The time is now to invest in the future of the textile and apparel industries, and Gaston College and Catawba Valley Community College look forward to playing a key role in training textile operators to support the impressive growth and investment in this critical sector.” “By signing this academic MOU, we bring education and industry together between two economies with a strong history of success in the textile industry. This is a great example of creating valuable partnerships aimed at developing the workforce to be more competitive to operate in a global market,” said Dr. Marlon Brevé-Reyes, UNITEC Rector. Under Secretary Fernandez said, “The United States is very supportive of the academic partnership announced here today which will lead to increased opportunities in co-production and will benefit both the United States and Central America. Investment in workforce and adherence to strong labor standards and good labor practices are essential to creating sustainable and resilient supply chains.” “President Xiomara Castro welcomes today’s announcement and is actively engaged in creating a good investment climate in Honduras. The MOU signed today will help provide economic opportunities to textile workers in our country and strengthen our ties,” said Secretary Zelaya. “As we work to create more sustainable and resilient global supply chains, this sector is in a window of opportunity,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Knight. “The innovations that U.S. and Central American textile and apparel companies create to reduce environmental impact and increase transparency across their supply chains can set them apart from global competitors, and today’s workforce development initiative is a key element in turning this vision into reality.” National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas stated, “This partnership demonstrates the critical need for education and training programs for the next generation of academics and textile employees to meet head-on the global sourcing shift that has been driving production out of Asia to Honduras, the entire CAFTA-DR region and the United States. Collaboration on this scale will support our critical co-production chain in the CAFTA-DR region and further enhance investments for the years to come. U.S. and Honduran government support for this private sector collaboration is crucial. We sincerely appreciate the statement of support issued by the State Department, as well as the participation in today’s events by Under Secretary Fernandez, Deputy Assistant Secretary Knight and Secretary Zelaya. It’s important these efforts are supported and funded in order to help expand growth opportunities in the U.S. and Central American textile and apparel production efforts. This is an exciting time for our industry.”

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NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 534,000 in 2021.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $65.2 billion in 2021.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $28.4 billion in 2021.
  • Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $1.85 billion in 2020, the last year for which data is available.
Download Release PRESS CONTACTS: Kristi Ellis Vice President, Communications National Council of Textile Organizations kellis@ncto.org |  202.281.9305 Mary Cullen Project Specialist NP Strategy 4141 Parklake Avenue, Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27612 T: 919.653.7814, C: 630.272.5691 mary@npstrategy.com