WASHINGTON, DC — June 20, 2019 — National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas is testifying at a public hearing today in support of the administration’s efforts to crack down on China’s abuse of intellectual property rights through the use of the Section 301 mechanism, while also calling on the administration to include finished apparel and home furnishings in any retaliatory tariffs against China.

Glas is joining several other NCTO member companies today to testify at a U.S. Trade Representative hearing as part of the administration’s consideration of the Tranche 4 of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports from China.

“If the United States truly wants to resolve China’s rampant IPR abuse, pillar sectors of the Chinese economy will need to be included on the 301-retaliation list,” Glas said in prepared remarks for today’s USTR hearing. “Leaving sectors that are highly sensitive within China’s economy off the list has actually weakened U.S. leverage throughout the negotiating process, delaying a long overdue remedy to this systemic trade problem.”

“To effectively respond to China’s predatory practices in our sector, we believe the administration needs to address the exports from China that are disrupting our market and distorting trade: exports of end items to the United States,” Glas said.

Finished apparel, home furnishings and other made-up textile goods equate to 93.5 percent of U.S. imports from China in our sector, while fiber, yarn and fabric imports from China only represent 6.5 percent, according to government data.

NCTO is “pleased the proposed Tranche 4 includes finished imported items from China, which have the most significant impact on U.S. employment, production and investment,” Glas said.

“We believe this move will lead to the re-shoring of production to the United States and the Western Hemisphere production platform—and will also address and mitigate China’s rampant trade distortions,” she added.

However, Glas said the industry has serious concerns that certain inputs “already vetted by the administration and removed from previous retaliatory tariff lists are back on this list for proposed duties. These inputs include but are not limited to: certain machinery, dyes and chemicals and textile components not available domestically, like rayon staple fiber.”

“Adding tariffs on imports of manufacturing inputs that are not made in the U.S. in effect raises the cost for American companies and makes them less competitive with China,” Glas said, calling for the earlier exclusion reviews to be upheld. In addition, Glas also urged the U.S. government to institute a fair, transparent and expeditious exclusion system for all retaliation tranches.

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers.

• U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 594,147 in 2018.
• The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $76.8 billion in 2018.
• U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $30.1 billion in 2018.
• Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.0 billion in 2017, the last year for which data is available.

Posted June 20, 2019

Source: National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)

WIELSBEKE, Belgium — June 19, 2019 — Global raw materials’ provider Beaulieu Engineered Products invites ITMA 2019 visitors to tap into the inspiring performance of its fibres, yarns and technical textiles in order to enhance innovation and sustainability for high end textiles (Hall 3 Stand C130A).

2019 is seeing the introduction of exciting advances for many of the application segments served by the various businesses of this Beaulieu International Group division. And more is to come, including increased support on the co-development front.

Spearheading Beaulieu Engineered Product’s news at ITMA 2019, is the announcement of new, fully operational pilot line supporting R&D projects for industrial and hygiene applications. It will also support the development of innovative fibres for new markets and applications. Beaulieu Fibres International’s (BFI) pilot line answers increasing customer demand for co-developments. It is extremely flexible and can replicate any type of staple fibre spinning technology, using different type of polymers and additives, and different type of cross sections.

More capacity on horizon to boost cost-efficient, strong Geotextiles: new high tenacity staple fibres capacity will be available from the end of 2019 at BFI’s Italian plant. BFI’s high tenacity fibres HT8 offer unique high tensile strength without compromising on elongation. The fibres provide opportunities to reduce geotextile system cost by maximizing machine efficiency and ensure desired performance at reduced weight – up to 15% compared with standard geotextile fibres.

New PET-core BICO staple fibres bring loft to Hygiene products: the fibres are available in a dtex range from 1,3-6,7dtex/40mm in both polymer-configurations PP/PET (Polypropylene / Polyethylene terephthalate) and PE/PET (Polyethylene /Polyethylene terephthalate). The specific use of PET in the core improves the resilience/loft of the nonwoven. The use of PE in the sheath provides softness as required in top sheets, for example, while the configuration with PP in the sheath answers the requirements for ultrasonic bonding. Fibres come in an antimony (Sb)-free version, as required by the latest hygiene safety regulations.

Realising 100% recyclable sustainable needlepunched fabrics: BFI’s new and unique polyolefin staple fibre UltraBond eliminates the need for latex or other chemical binders to consolidate nonwovens, contributing to a fully recyclable system. The award-winning innovation opens up a new path to create 100% PP needlepunched fabrics which meet the same performance requirements while reducing the end-of-life environmental impact. CO₂ emissions are reduced by 35% over the full production process during fabrics’ production.

Renewable natural resources for carpets – biomass-balance EqoBalance® PA6 yarns: following their pioneering introduction in mid-2018, Beaulieu Yarns is seeing interest increase in 2019 in its drop-in alternative for carpet manufacturers. EqoBalance® yarns support the global goal of strong, immediate CO₂ emission reduction, allowing a reduction of up to 75% of CO₂ eq/kg compared to Beaulieu Yarns’ fossil-based products.

These Green Product Award winning yarns deliver the same quality and performance as the fossil-based equivalents, and enable carpet manufacturers to contribute to a sustainable future through less use of fossil resources and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Beaulieu Yarns’ EqoBalance® is the very first yarn certified by TÜV Süd as meeting the new REDcert[1] standard on the “use of sustainable biomass for material purposes in the chemical industry”.

Karena Cancilleri, Engineered Products, Beaulieu International Group, comments: “Textiles have expanded well beyond apparel. At ITMA 2019, we look forward to sharing pioneering solutions and practical co-development support to enable diverse industries to take a more innovative and sustainable direction in their future applications.”

Be inspired by the possibilities. Meet the fibres, yarns and technical textile teams from Beaulieu Engineered Products at ITMA 2019 in Hall 3 Stand C130A (20-26 June 2019, Fira de Barcelona, Spain).

[1] REDcert extended the initial scope of its standard to allow for considerations of impact. Sustainable technologies can only benefit the environment if they can be widely adopted or impact sectors with a large economic footprint (such as the tufting industry). EqoBalance® has been validated and certified with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), meaning it complies with the ISO 14025 standard.

Posted June 19, 2019

Source: Beaulieu International Group