WASHINGTON — August 10, 2012 — United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk today released a
statement following President Barack Obama’s signature into law of legislation that makes critical
amendments to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Central America – Dominican
Republic – United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

“By signing this important legislation into law today, the President is ensuring job
protection for thousands of textile and apparel industry workers in the United States, Africa and
Latin America,” said Ambassador Kirk. “I am proud to say that this bill passed with immense
bipartisanship in both the House and the Senate last week. I commend Members of Congress on both
sides of the aisle for coming together to support American jobs and strengthen our relationship
with these key U.S. trading partners. The Administration looks forward to working with AGOA
stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic to grow the U.S.-Africa trade and investment
relationship by taking full of advantage of this and other provisions of AGOA.”

Specifically, the bill extends until September 2015 the third-country fabric provision of
AGOA, which will enable the continuation of duty-free access into the U.S. for qualifying apparel
exports from sub-Saharan Africa. This provision was due to expire at the end of next month. It
would have been detrimental to many workers and apparel producers in sub-Saharan Africa had
Congress and the Administration not acted to renew it. The bill also adds South Sudan to the list
of sub-Saharan African countries that might become eligible for AGOA benefits once it meets
eligibility criteria. 

In addition, the bill provides for several technical amendments to CAFTA-DR. Among them is
one that ensures that all sewing thread used in CAFTA-DR qualifying garments must originate in
Central America, the Dominican Republic or the United States. Prior to this legislation, there was
a loophole in the Agreement that allowed for a type of sewing thread to originate in other
countries, like China. This amendment eliminates that loophole and, therefore, provides job
protection for thousands of American apparel and textile workers. 



Posted on August 14, 2012

Source: USTR

ColorZen LLC — a new company formed to provide technology that eliminates the use of
environmentally detrimental chemicals and significantly reduces the amount of water, energy and
time needed to dye cotton — unveiled its new technology recently at The Continuum Show, a New York
City-based trade show that is focused on sustainability in textile manufacturing. ColorZen™
technology involves the pretreatment of cotton using a process that renders the fiber more
receptive to dye intake, does not require use of salt or other chemicals to fix the dye, and
enables the desired color to be achieved using half the amount of dye, with a 97-percent exhaustion
rate of the dye onto the cotton, compared to traditional cotton dyeing technologies. The company
reports the treated cotton can be dyed using conventional dyeing machinery, but the dyeing process
uses 90-percent less water than is required for conventional cotton because fewer rinses are
required and the water is recycled. The process also consumes 75-percent less energy because color
is applied at lower dyeing temperatures and the entire process is completed in one-third the time
needed for conventional dyeing.

The ColorZen process, which alters the cotton fiber’s molecular structure to attract the dye
naturally, has been in development over a number of years and has some basis in cationic chemistry,
which offers similar environmental benefits. However, according to Tony Leonard, the company’s
technical director, cationic chemistry has not been successful outside of a laboratory setting for
reasons related to cost effectiveness, complexity of the treatment and difficulty achieving
consistent results, among other factors. By contrast, said Michael Harari, president, “ColorZen
cotton can be produced on a mass scale at a cost that is effective, and most of the cost can be
offset by savings in water, energy, chemicals and time, all of which flow to the bottom line.”

“We took a lot from cationic chemistry because of the environmental side of it, and we
improved on it,” Leonard added. “We’re looking at supplying a treated product that is ready to use
with no concern about variations because we know how to control our whole operation. If we can
control the dye fixation, we can control the product.”

The company points out that although chemicals are used in the process, which has received
Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certification, they become inert upon application to the cotton fiber, and
the treatment process produces zero discharge of toxic chemicals, or any chemicals. In addition,
the minimal amount of water used in the process is recycled.

ColorZen has opened its first processing facility in China because, as Harari explained,
“China is the most prolific textile export country, and most of the negative environmental effects
of textile production have occurred there.” In the future, the company plans to expand its
operations to other locations.

The company anticipates cotton products bearing the ColorZen hangtag will be available in
stores as early as next year. “We will now be able to offer brands, retailers, and manufacturers a
sustainable choice for cotton dyeing that will protect the fresh waterways and reduce energy
consumption,” Harari said.

August 7, 2012

Asahi Kasei Fibers Corp. — one of nine core businesses operated by Japan-based conglomerate Asahi
Kasei Corp. — has announced it will discontinue spandex production at its U.S. subsidiary, Asahi
Kasei Spandex America Inc., Goose Creek, S.C., effective October 2012. The action, which will
result in the loss of 133 jobs, is part of a restructuring strategy influenced by a global
oversupply of spandex in tandem with high feedstock prices, and by weak market demand in the United
States since the global financial crisis of 2008 and expectations that no major recovery will occur
in the U.S. market in the foreseeable future.

Asahi Kasei Fibers acquired the Goose Creek operation in 2006, when it purchased the
Dorlastan® fibers business, which also includes a spandex manufacturing site in Germany, from
Germany-based Lanxess AG. Asahi Kasei has continued to market spandex from those two facilities
under the Dorlastan brand, and the site in Germany will continue to produce Dorlastan for the
markets it serves.

The company also produces spandex under its Roica™ brand at four facilities in Asia
including sites in Japan, Taiwan, China and Thailand.

With the closing of the Goose Creek facility, only one spandex producer will remain in the
United States and in the region covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central
America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. Wichita, Kan.-based Invista produces Lycra®
spandex at facilities in Waynesboro, Va., and in Monterrey, Mexico.

August 7, 2012