The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that will provide enhanced trade between
the United States and the Caribbean Basin. Beginning October 1, 2000, and lasting for eight years,
goods assembled in the Caribbean Basin from U.S. fabric and yarn, whether they are cut in the
region or not, will be eligible for duty-free and quota-free treatment in the United States.The
bill also contains provisions that expand trade with Africa as well as reversing a tariff inversion
on imported wool and correcting a marking rule relating to certain flat goods from Europe.”On
balance, we believe the outcome of the CBI trade bill is favorable for the majority of our
members,” said Roger Chastain, president, American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI). “The
bill will provide American textile companies with significant new export opportunities, which we
have been seeking for years. Some of the changes made in conference will have an adverse effect
within our industry, but we recognize that the overall benefits of the bill will be helpful to the
U.S. textile industry, and we are therefore not opposed to its passage.”Although the Caribbean
measures of the bill are viewed generally as positive, the African portion presents some risks,
according to Chastain.”The potential loss of U.S. textile production and jobs as a result of these
provisions causes us concern and is indicative of the continued failure of U.S. trade policy to
treat the domestic textile industry equitably.”Moreover, the damaging aspects of the bill highlight
the need for Congress to reject permanent normal trade relations (PNtr) for China. Chinas entry
into the World Trade Organization (WTO), under the terms currently envisioned, could cost as many
as 150,000 U.S. textile and related jobs. The damaging provisions of the CBI/Sub-Saharan Africa
bill will only add to the damage that China will cause to our industry should it be granted PNtr.”
June 2000
