The Ministry Of Textile 's (MoT) tableau showcased the theme "shuttling to the future", attempting to take the viewers through the lens of this journey from past to the future. The concept of this tableau is inspired by the 'Shuttle' used in weaving. This traditional weaving shuttle transforms into a Space-shuttle, reflecting the evolution of traditional textiles to futuristic technical textiles. The ministry is trying to display India's strengths in traditional textiles and natural fibres globally which is now emerging as a key player in technical textiles. The tableaux front part represents shuttle and has charkas, cotton balls and silk cocoon on top which represent fibre to yarn conversion. The rear part has coloured yarns which are converted into fabric by looms and in turn into different traditional to technical apparel. The end of the tableau has two exhaust jets of a Spaceshuttle. A weaver on it is weaving a beautiful yarn-dyed fabric in the handloom. Next to that is "India size", NIFT undertaking this project of national importance and developing a comprehensive body size chart for the Indian population. "During the Covid-19 crisis when global manufacturing came to a grinding halt, India became the second-largest PPE kit manufacturer", stated the Ministry. Live models on the tableau are on renowned traditional colourful textiles of the various states and technical textiles (health care sector).
Source: ANI News
British companies are poised to gain from a "first mover" advantage ahead of the US and European Union (EU) in India as a result of a free trade agreement (FTA), which has the potential to overshadow other major UK trade deals, a new UK think-tank analysis said on Wednesday British companies are poised to gain from a "first mover" advantage ahead of the US and European Union (EU) in India as a result of a free trade agreement (FTA), which has the potential to overshadow other major UK trade deals, a new UK think-tank analysis said on Wednesday. The Resolution Foundation is examining the economic impact of the UK's new trade pivot towards the Indo-Pacific region following Brexit. In 'A presage to India?', its latest report for "The Economy2030 Inquiry" with the London School of Economics (LSE) funded by the Nuffield Foundation, it noted that the economic benefits of a trade deal with India could eventually be even bigger than the "now defunct" trade deal with the US. "UK firms exporting to India currently face far higher tariffs (19 per cent, on average) than they do to the US (2 per cent), so there is far more scope for trade liberalisation. Securing an FTA with India could also give UK firms a 'first mover' competitive advantage over exporting firms in the US and EU, which don't have preferential access to the Indian economy," notes the Resolution Foundation. "India is forecast to become the world's third largest import market by 2050, while its demand for business, telecommunications and computer services - sectors where UK export firms already perform well - is expected to treble over the course of the 2020s. UK business services exports currently under-perform in India relative to other Indo-Pacific regions - accounting for just 1.8 per cent of imports to India, compared to 3 per cent in China, and 4.2 per cent in Malaysia - so the potential for future growth is huge," it notes. The UK and India announced the launch of FTA negotiations earlier this month, with the first round of talks between officials kick-starting virtually last week. The latest analysis finds that much of the focus around the UK's pivot towards the IndoPacific is around its ambition to become the first European nation to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) - an agreement that could cover eight per cent of current UK trade. However, as the UK already has free trade agreements (FTAs) with the majority of CPTPP members, with 95 per cent of CPTPP trade already covered by FTAs, a trade agreement with India could have a "far bigger impact", the report says as India is a faster growing economy than the CPTPP bloc. The think-tank also flags that while there are clear potential benefits of trade liberalisation with India, UK firms will also be exposed to "far more uncertainty about competition from Indian exporters". The Indian economy has already developed a comparative advantage in exporting some business services, and is changing far more rapidly than more advanced economies, with eight sectors emerging as new comparative advantages for India - including pharmaceuticals and R&D - compared to just one in the US in the past 10 years, the analysis finds. "Having raised trade barriers with Europe, and given up on a new US trade deal, the UK's trade strategy has now pivoted towards the Indo-Pacific region," said Sophie Hale, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation. "While much of the focus has concentrated on becoming the first European country to join the huge CPTPP region, the far bigger potential economic gains and risks lie in more trade with the huge, rapidly growing, but still relatively closed Indian economy. Trade liberalisation with India is expected to boost UK manufacturing in the short term, but could also benefit business services, where UK firms already enjoy a competitive advantage, and where demand is set to soar," she said. "But India is changing as well as growing, so any trade deal means accepting uncertainty about the competition that will face UK firms, as the price for access to a fast-expanding market," she added. A successful pivot towards a closer trade relationship with India rests on the idea that the UK can, in services, emulate the German goods success in exporting high value manufacturing to China, while avoiding a new "India shock" - similar to the "China shock" that hit US manufacturing - in which business services firms in the UK are undercut by Indian imports with lower labour costs, the think tank warns.
Source: Economic Times
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India's economic growth forecast to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 31, joining a host of agencies which have downgraded their projections on concerns over the impact of a spread of new variant of coronavirus on business activity and mobility.
Source: Economic Times
The focus of the oncoming budget is expected to be towards keeping the growth and recovery momentum alive while safeguarding economic security and taking the economy further towards green and sustainable growth. While the threat of the Omicron variant is regarded as transitory, fiscal measures that keep the foot on the accelerator for the economy, are expected to continue. When we drill down from these overall objectives and examine potential areas of action in specific sectors and international trade, some possibilities stand out visibly. However, the Government of India is privy to multiple inputs, internal analysis as well as competing interests of various economic agents. Add to that the myriad messages that the budget encapsulates in our democracy, and it makes the act of predicting what the Finance Minister will propose on the 1st of February 2022, with regard to imports and exports, not an easy one. Firstly, as prior to every budget, in the current year too, there are demands for lowering customs duties on certain products. Such demands are usually made with plausible justification for some food products, raw materials and inputs or intermediate goods for manufacturing industries. In 2022 such demands have been made most noticeably for metals like aluminum and steel, electronic components, inputs for manufacture of electric vehicles, electric vehicles themselves, products that are a part of the health infrastructure and certain products that lead to an inverted duty structure. Many of these demands do align with the Government of India’s efforts to embed India into global value chains for what were called network products (i.e. products with globally fragmented production processes and controlled by MNCs within their global production networks) in the Economic Survey of 2020. Accepting other duty reduction proposals could help rein in inflation or further the transition to a green economy. The healthcare sector could also see some tariff reductions. It is a fair expectation that some of these demands for duty reduction would be accommodated in this year’s budget, with a prioritization towards redressing an inverted duty structure wherever possible. The reductions in duties could indeed spur domestic manufacture in some sectors, adding to the recovery momentum. At the same time the government will need to, at least partly, offset some of the revenue giveaways with duty increases on some other products. It is likely that Finance Ministry could target the twin objectives of tariff protection and revenue mobilization through such increases. Such possibilities exist for finished goods wherein the government wishes to attract manufacturing investment through Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. The schemes open currently include specialty steel, apparel and textile products of manmade fibres and semiconductor products. Some of these products are protected from duties by international agreements, e.g. duties on many Information Technology products cannot be imposed due to India’s commitments under the Information Technology Agreement. It remains to be seen as to whether the government does impose duties on such sectors and what workarounds are found to avoid violations of commitments under plurilateral agreements. This becomes especially relevant as the PLI scheme with the largest outlay is for semiconductor manufacturing, an area which is now considered by many countries as a part of their economic, cyber and physical security. Another area of action could be that of a sustainable green economy. While India has made protestations about the iniquitous burden of remedying climate change upon developing countries, both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have displayed their strong inclination towards treading a green path to economic development. So, while India has expressed its opposition to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, it may stand to lose less and gain more by initiating a similar mechanism in India. Such an action, in the medium to long run, could protect domestic industries from competition from more carbon intensive producers outside India and also increase India’s market access in the climate conscious developed world. The budget 2022 could make a beginning in this direction even if concrete fiscal measures like carbon tariffs or a border adjustment mechanism are some years into the future. In addition to the aforementioned expectations on international trade from the Budget 2022, we also need to watch out for the Foreign Trade Policy announcement which has been deferred for the past two years. The refreshed trade governance landscape of India would emerge after both these events have occurred.
Source: Economic Times
India's annual Budget will go green this year too, cutting down on the vast printing of documents that was associated with the presentation of tax proposals and financial statement of Asia's third largest economy. The Budget documents will be available mostly digitally, with only a handful of physical copies, officials said. The printing of several hundred copies of the voluminous Budget documents was such an elaborate exercise that printing staff had to be quarantined inside the printing press in the basement of North Block -- the seat of the finance ministry -- for at least a couple of weeks. This quarantine and the beginning of the printing would begin with a traditional 'Halwa ceremony' attended by finance minister, deputy finance ministers and senior officials in the ministry. Since coming to power, the Modi government has curtailed printing of the Budget copies -- initially cutting copies distributed to journalists and outside analysts and then reducing those provided to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs citing outbreak of the pandemic. This year, the outbreak of the highly infectious Omicron variant has brought more curbs. As a result, the symbolic halwa ceremony is being given a go-by, sources said, citing the prevailing pandemic. However, a small group of staffers will undergo mandatory quarantine for the compilation of the digital Budget documents. The 'halwa ceremony' was usually held 10 days prior to the Union Budget. Last year, it was the first time since the presentation of independent India's first Budget on November 26, 1947, that the documents containing income and expenditure statement of the Union government along with the finance bill, detailing new taxes and other measures for the new financial year, were not physically printed. Also, for convenience, the finance ministry had in 2021 launched the 'Union Budget Mobile App' for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public. As part of the ritual, 'halwa' was prepared in a big 'kadhai' (large frying pot) and served to the entire staff involved in the Budget making the exercise of the ministry. The significance of the event is that after the sweet dish is served, a large number of officials and support staff who are directly associated with the Budget making are required to stay in the ministry and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget in the Lok Sabha. They are not even allowed to contact their near and dear ones through phone or any other form of communication, including e-mail.
Source: Economic Times
This was despite the restrictions posed by the Covid pandemic in both countries: Consul General Anju Ranjan Trade between India and South Africa has exceeded the USD 10 billion target set by the leaders of the two countries, Consul General Anju Ranjan announced at a reception here on Wednesday to celebrate India's 73rd Republic Day. "India-South Africa trade has crossed the landmark. We have achieved the 100 per cent target and now it has increased from USD 10 billion to USD 11.6 billion," Ranjan said. This was despite the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries, she added. "We were able to organise many commercial activities despite the challenges of lockdowns, sometimes in India and sometimes in South Africa. "We held many virtual exhibitions and buyer-seller meets in different sectors like ceramics, telecom, agriculture, printing and textiles during this period to improve bilateral trade between the two countries," Ranjan said. "In between, we were able to send delegations to India for physical buyer-seller meets and exhibitions for food processing and handicrafts," the diplomat said as she highlighted that new ties were forged through visits to the various provinces of South Africa. "Notwithstanding the pandemic, the improvement in trade relations between our two countries is a positive step. We aspire to do much more in the coming months in the areas of spices, IT, telecom, mining, pharma and textiles," Ranjan said. In his keynote address, High Commissioner Jaideep Sarkar lauded the Indian companies who were contributing to the economic development of South Africa. "I am happy to say that over 150 Indian companies have invested more than USD 10 billion in South Africa, employing over 20,000 South African nationals. These companies bring critical skills, technology and entrepreneurship and create jobs, income and wealth for both India and South Africa," he said. Sarkar also congratulated the global Indian diaspora, which he said is now an influential community. "We are equally proud of the Indian diaspora in South Africa, whose journey since 1860 is a story of struggle, sacrifice and hardship. Its contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle and later to building a free, democratic and multi-racial South Africa is well-recognised," he said. "India has always been an all-weather friend of South Africa and Indians and Africans have had historically close ties spanning centuries. We look to the diaspora to further expand, enhance and enrich these bonds in the years to come," Sarkar added. Maropene Ramokgopa, Special Adviser on International Relations to President Cyril Ramaphosa and a former Consul General in India, said the Red Fort Declaration signed by the late president Nelson Mandela and then Indian prime minister HD Deve Gowda in 1997 paved the way for the successful trade relations between the two countries. "The Red Fort Declaration has really been able to assist us to be able to reach a lot of bilateral trade and also broad policies that we share today. If it was not for that declaration, I do not believe that we would have been able to be where we are today," she said. "India and South Africa have been working together to reshape the international agenda in many international groupings, from the corporate world to the G20," Ramokgopa added.
Source: Business Standard
The Indian economy has recovered 'handsomely' from the pandemic-induced disruptions, former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Tuesday, while expressing hope that the recovery will be sustained and the growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent will be restored. Panagariya suggested that the government must now signal its intention to wind down fiscal deficit by cutting it by half-to-one percentage point in 2022-23. "The Indian economy has recovered handsomely, returning to its pre-COVID GDP. Only private consumption is still below its pre-COVID-19 level," the eminent economist told PTI in an interview. While an advanced estimate by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) places India's GDP growth in 2021-22, at 9.2 per cent, Panagariya said this is higher than any other country this past year and the recovery has also been across-theboard. The economy, which was significantly hit by the pandemic, had contracted 7.3 per cent in the last fiscal. Panagariya noted that the dominant view among epidemiologists now is that with a large proportion of the population now having antibodies due to past infections from different variants of the virus or vaccination, there is now a high chance that the epidemic is about to enter the endemic phase. "If this indeed comes to pass, I expect the recovery to sustain and the 7 to 8 per cent growth to be restored," Panagariya said. Panagariya suggested that the government must now signal its intention to wind down fiscal deficit by cutting it by halfto-one percentage point in 2022-23. "We should not live beyond our means since it imposes a larger debt burden on the next generation," Panagariya, who is currently a Professor of Economics at the Columbia University said. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fiscal deficit ballooned to 9.5 per cent in the first pandemic year 2020-21. The government aims to achieve a fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current financial year (2021-22). On rising inflationary trends, he observed that inflation is a concern in the United States, where it has reached 7 per cent, the highest in the last 40 years, but not in India. "In India, it has remained within the target range of 2 to 6 per cent," he pointed out. Retail inflation in India rose to 5.59 per cent in December 2021, mainly due to an uptick in food prices, while the wholesale price-based inflation bucked the 4-month rising trend and eased to 13.56 per cent last month, as per latest official data. As regards the rise in the interest rate (taper tantrum) in the US, Panagariya said they may lead to some capital outflows, but he does not expect them to be significant enough to cause a repeat of summer 2013. But I do hope that the RBI allows the rupee to depreciate a little further when such outflows take place," he said, adding that this will incentivize exports on the one hand and reduce the temptation on the part of the government to raise tariffs. Taper tantrum phenomenon refers to the situation in 2013, when emerging markets witnessed capital outflows and spike in inflation after the US Federal Reserve started to put brakes on its quantitative easing programme. Replying to a question on cryptocurrencies, Panagariya said that the government never succeeded in controlling Hawala transactions and "the same is going to be true of cryptocurrencies even if we ban them. So, a prudent course of action is to regulate rather than ban them," he suggested. Panagariya stressed that it is best to create a regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies that encourages the reporting of transactions done in them rather than force them to go underground. India is contemplating bringing a bill in Parliament to deal with the challenges posed by the unregulated cryptocurrencies. Currently, there are no particular regulations or any ban on use of cryptocurrencies in the country. He further noted that the RBI's proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is definitely an idea worth serious study and consideration. On delay in privatisation of two public sector banks, Panagariya said he had feared that backtracking on farm laws will encourage others to resort to agitation to block reforms too. "This seems to be clearly the case with Bank employees who are well organized," he said Panagariya suggested that a prudent course for the government would be to offer Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) packages to those unwilling to work in the banks after privatization. "I think the government will recover the associated expenditure in enhanced price it will receive since the buyer will then be getting only employees who are motivated to work," he said. In the Union Budget for financial year 2021-22, the government had announced its intent to take up privatisation of two public sector banks.
Source: Economic Times
As part of the pledge, Welspun India will strive to achieve net-zero emissions by setting up a target aligned with the SBTi NetZero Framework, the company said in a regulatory filing. Home textiles major NSE 1.31 % Ltd on Tuesday said it has joined the global coalition to undertake climate action aligned with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) of Net-Zero standard and Business Ambition for 1.5 degrees Celsius to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. As part of the pledge, Welspun India will strive to achieve net-zero emissions by setting up a target aligned with the SBTi NetZero Framework, the company said in a regulatory filing. It will also develop a decarbonisation road map to minimise its emission across the value chain operations through initiatives. This will include reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through periodic review of GHG inventory, persistent increase in annual sourcing of renewable energy, identifying climate-related business risks and reporting as per the guidelines of TCFD (Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures), the company added. Welspun India Joint Managing Director and CEO Dipali Goenka said, "Businesses can no longer afford to take a waitand-see approach to climate change. The time to act and safeguard our tomorrow is now. Our commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative of Net-Zero Standard is a step in that direction." The SBTi Business Ambition for 1.5 degrees Celsius is an urgent call to take action from a global coalition of UN agencies and business and industry leaders, in partnership with the Race to Zero campaign. Globally, over 2,000 businesses and financial institutions are working with the SBTi to reduce their emissions in line with climate science. "With sustainability and climate consciousness as integral components of our overarching business philosophy, we will continue to monitor, assess and implement policies that allow us to reduce the direct and indirect environmental impact of our operations," Goenka said.
Source: Economic Times
Challenges facing the apparel sector Korean apparel companies are expected to see light at the end of the tunnel after years of struggling for growth in the domestic market. While F&F has been seeking to extend its domestic leadership to the Asian market for years, others have been making preparations for their overseas market forays. Korean apparel companies that own licensed brands have been recognized by their licensors for their strong performance, and thereby securing additional deals to distribute the brands in Asia. With fundamentals improving, domestic brand companies will likely enjoy a re-rating of shares. Investment points for brand companies We focus on two key changes in fundamentals of brand apparel companies this year. The emergence of millennials and Generation Z, who highly value individuality, as the main consumer base is expected to create opportunities for new apparel brands. With nonapparel brands starting their own clothing lines, licensed apparel brands are projected to enter the third phase of growth since 2010. First, overseas growth momentum will likely be in full swing this year, led by top-tier licensed apparel businesses. Second, traditional companies’ efforts to move from offline to digital channels should lead to improvement in ROE. Investment points for OEM companies OEM companies stand to benefit from a seller’s market, which has emerged partly due to years of conservative inventory valuation practices at apparel firms. First, the workleisure trend, a hybrid of athleisure and office attire, has created a new market segment amid the reopening of economies. Second, supply shortages have continued largely unabated, boosting expectations for short-term earnings growth. Global apparel product prices have been on an uptrend due to rising inflationary pressure, while raw material price hikes have increased the cost burden. However, robust demand will allow sellers to pass cost increases onto consumers with relative ease. We therefore expect to see strong earnings momentum for OEMs in 1H22. Expecting big changes that may not be repeated within the next five years, we initiate our coverage of the apparel sector with an OVERWEIGHT view. We recommend Hansae and Youngone (OEMs) as our sector top picks. Handsome and Shinsegae International (brand companies) deserve attention. F&F, the bellwether of the apparel sector, should see high base effect on a 12-month forward basis. We suggest a bottom-fishing approach on Fila Holdings in view of lower share valuation and brand rebuilding efforts.
Source: Business Korea
Leicester and Leicestershire Business Gateway have recruited a dazzling array of creative talent to help fashion and textiles businesses succeed in 2022. Experts in photography, video, branding, digital marketing and websites will enable local businesses to attract new customers in a programme called SMARTUP: Create. It’s no secret that the last two years have been very difficult for Leicestershire’s iconic fashion and textiles sector. As part of the ongoing support from the Business Gateway, a new one-day virtual event aims to help them showcase their products more effectively by using a range of media channels. The SMARTUP: Create programme will enable beginners to understand how to create a brand using video and photography and promote it through digital marketing. It will also enable more experienced businesses to take their existing marketing activities to the next level; all with the aim of growing income for those businesses. The agency So Very Creative is overseeing the programme which will be free of charge to participating businesses. Founder Ben Mainwaring explained: “We have some top-class people to share their expertise and provide practical guidance to fashion and textiles companies during the day. “Award-winning Jack James is our video specialist, photographer Nick Freeman has many years shooting all styles from conceptual high-end couture to high street fashion. Web expertise is provided by Zaid Crowe who has 15 years’ experience. Fashion branding and marketing know-how comes from Charlene Bent, founder of the Ms Campbell styling solutions range. Charlene has worked with the X Factor, OK!, HELLO! and many other famous names.” The event will run all day with sessions lasting approximately 50 minutes to an hour. At the end of the webinar section of the day, there will be a live case study Q&A session with a fashion business who will be outlining their own strategy for building their brand online. The event is on 17 March 2022 10.00am-5.00pm and businesses interested in taking part should visit https://bit.ly/3KvMek6 or www.smartupdigital.uk/create.
Source: East mid Lands Business Link
The National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO) has warned of the “significant adverse impact” of proposals aimed at weakening the rules of origin clause of the USDominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The NCTO cites research by Werner International which says the current rules of origin in the CAFTA-DR supports more than one million US jobs and US$12.5bn in two-way trade as well as fostering significant and impactful investments in manufacturing and apparel production. The study also finds various proposals aimed at weakening the CAFTA-DR agreement’s “carefully negotiated and longstanding” textile rules of origin would severely harm the region and US and result in massive job, investment, and export losses, the NCTO says. “The Werner report comes at a pivotal time, as the global supply chain crisis and concerns over forced labour in Xinjiang have sparked a shift in sourcing out of Asia and a renewed focus on nearshoring and onshoring jobs back to the Americas. As outlined in this report, the US-CAFTA-DR agreement is a critically important and deeply economically impactful agreement that has fostered a co-production chain for textiles and apparel supporting over one million jobs in the region and the US,” says NCTO president and CEO Kim Glas. “This is due to a key element of the agreement called the ‘yarn forward rule of origin,’ a unique investment-based rule that ties lucrative duty-free access to the US market to investment in yarn, fabric, and cut-and-sew production in the region and the US.” “We appreciate the broad bipartisan support, including from the administration, for maintaining the essential yarn forward rule of origin and ensuring those rules are not eroded through harmful changes. This common support for preserving the provision is vital to the bipartisan efforts focused on ushering in a new era of American manufacturing prowess and economic prosperity. Conversely, the report found that weakening the rules by adding ‘flexibilities’ such as cumulation and short supply changes would exacerbate the migration crisis by devastating our industries and further tether us to our counterparts in Asia, including China.”
Key Findings from Werner report: 1. Adverse consequences to adding flexibilities to/weakening the yarn forward rule: • Destroys US and Western Hemisphere textile employment, with a total projected loss of more than 307,000 US textile and cotton farming jobs and a loss of 250,000 jobs in Central America’s primary textile industry. • Devastates US cotton farmers, currently employing 115,000 people in 18 states. Projected sales drop of 30% for US and Western Hemisphere cotton growers. • Provides direct and indirect backdoor access to Chinese textile inputs, further perpetuating Xinjiang forced labor. • Chills future investment and destabilises current investment in region. Over $1bn in capital investments have been made in CAFTA-DR countries since 2005, which have helped create a vertical regional production chain. Weakened rules place major future and long-term US investments at risk. • Cripples efforts to construct a viable domestic/nearshoring supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE). • Exponentially increases greenhouse carbon emissions through transpacific shipping and Asian coal-fired energy. Jan Urlings, vice chairman of Werner International, notes: The data overwhelmingly demonstrates that the current co-production chain would be undermined by subsidised Asian/Chinese fabrics and yarns whether directly or indirectly through a third party, would devastate direct and indirect textile employment and investment in the US, the region and the entire Western Hemisphere. It would also exacerbate enforcement issues associated with Xinjiang cotton produced with forced labour.” Patrick McHenry, Textile Caucus co-Chair, adds: “The global supply chain crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic has exposed our severe overreliance on China. This report showcases that onshoring and nearshoring of this critical production chain is critical for the US textile industry and workers in the CAFTA-DR region. The US-CAFTA-DR trade agreement has spurred hundreds of millions of dollars of investment because of the strong rules of origin that support this co-production chain. Any erosion of these rules would harm American producers and exacerbate the immigration crisis. As supply chains are pivoting, we must seize on the opportunity for growth in good paying jobs in both the US and the region and end our overreliance on China.” The report makes a series of recommendations to help improve the competitive position of the CAFTA-DR region: • Better coordination among lending agencies of the federal government, such as the US Agency for International Development, InterAmerican Development Bank, and Export-Import Bank, to ensure targeted, strategic investment in this sector and competitive low or zero interest financing and loan guarantees. • Support for a comprehensive infrastructure plan with targeted, highimpact investments and competitive loans to upgrade regional power grids, roads, and local ports would pay immediate dividends. • Provide incentives to the Western Hemisphere co-production chain for carbon emission reductions and sustainable products. • Ensure trade stability in the region by maintaining maximum pressure on China, including enforcing the US ban on cotton and cotton products made with forced labor in Xinjiang. • Refrain from changing cumulation and short supply process, which would lead to a surge of third-country yarns and fabrics and displace hundreds of thousands of jobs in the region and US. • Oppose granting duty-free access and other benefits through an expansion of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme to apparel and textiles and negotiating free trade agreements with major Asian suppliers. • Close the de minimis loophole for imports from China that allow goods valued at $800 or less to enter duty free if imported by one person on one day. Previously, the apparel and textile trade body for the Dominican Republic launched a call to action in order to increase trade, investment, and employment in the CAFTA-DR region.
Source: Just-style
