free trade agreement with the European Union. While these negotiations are not as advanced in timing as TPP, they will demand considerable resources and attention on our part. There are two primary challenges the U.S. textile industry faces with TTIP:
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The EU favors fabric forward as opposed to a yarn forward rule of origin
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The EU is also pressing for access to U.S. military contracts
NCTO also will continue to focus on a number of initiatives Congress is actively considering that directly impact our sector. They include items such as:
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Trade Promotion Authority – often referred to as “Fast Track;”
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The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill;
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Reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank;
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The Nicaragua TPL;
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The African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA);
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Extension of Haiti trade benefits; and
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The OUTDOOR Act.
All of these initiatives will require the direct engagement of NCTO in the coming year as we attempt to shape the outcome of legislation in each of these areas.
eTC: Tell us some good news as it relates to the industry in the coming year.
Price: We are looking forward to another year of positive growth for the U.S. textile industry. This past year we saw continued economic success in our industry. Textile shipments totaled $56.7 billion, and exports of all textile products were nearly $18.3 billion. We are adding jobs for the first time in two decades, and we have continued to see new domestic and foreign direct investment projects in the industry over the past year. These investments are projected to provide approximately 3,000 new jobs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana.
There will be challenges, however. The policy issues referenced will need to be shaped properly to avoid stunting the impressive gains made by our industry. In addition, the strong dollar will place an even tighter competitive squeeze on our products in the international trade arena. Nonetheless, we are confident in our ability to continue to adapt and prosper in an extremely competitive marketplace.
Noting that we have a great story to tell, we will be embarking on an industry-wide public relations campaign in the coming year. This campaign will brand the U.S. textile industry for what it is, a technology driven, capital-intensive innovator of high-quality products that is fully competing in the 21st century global marketplace. This campaign is appropriately timed to help policy makers, along with the general public, quantify the enormous contribution that domestic textile manufacturers are making to the overall U.S. economy.
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Posted April 8, 2015
Editor’s note: During the National Council of Textile Organization’s 12th Annual Meeting, Jeff Price, president of the Specialty Fabrics & Performance Solutions Division at Milliken & Co., Spartanburg, S.C., was elected chairman of the group. eTC caught up with Price after the meeting.
eTC: Jeff, you’re following in the footsteps of fellow South Carolinian Jay Self as NCTO chairman. Please speak to Jay’s leadership and his efforts on behalf of the NCTO and the industry.
Price: I am proud of Jay’s accomplishments as chairman of NCTO over the past year. He smoothly led the organization through another year of critical Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. He also provided key leadership on several other important agenda items for our industry, such as the preservation of the Berry Amendment, along with a number of legislative matters that are pending before Congress. I can’t thank him enough for his tireless work and dedication to our industry.
eTC: Why is serving in this leadership position important to you and your company?
Price: Milliken has a longstanding tradition of working to ensure that federal policies directly impacting the U.S. textile sector are fair and rational. Supporting NCTO, our industry’s key trade association, is a logical byproduct of wanting to work hand-in-hand with other industry leaders toward this goal in Washington. As part of Milliken’s continued dedication to the U.S. textile industry, we believe that it is critical for our sector to have a strong, active and effective voice in Washington policy circles.
NCTO's 12th Annual Meeting
Q&A with NCTO Chairman Jeff Price of Milliken
Jeff Price
eTC: What are your goals for the association during your term, particularly as they relate to the multitude of trade-related pacts such as the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its various outcomes?
Price: NCTO’s top priority is to ensure TPP yields a fair and reasonable outcome for the domestic textile industry. NCTO’s primary focus in the coming year is to continue its engagement with the U.S. government as the negotiations head into their final stages. Thanks to NCTO’s continuous engagement with U.S. trade negotiators, all of our objectives for the TPP agreement remain achievable. These objectives include:
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A strong yarn forward rule-of-origin;
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Reasonable duty phase-outs on sensitive textile and apparel items; and
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Strong Customs enforcement provisions
As with any trade agreement, we are waiting to see the final text before having an official position on TPP, but we are optimistic that our engagement with the U.S. government will lead to an outcome that we can ultimately support. Of course, as with all trade agreements, things can change as the talks move to a conclusion and our negotiators face great pressure to get a deal done.
eTC: Besides TPP, what do you see as some of the industry’s other big challenges and what is the correct industry response to these?
Price: There are numerous issues. As previously mentioned, maintaining a strong Berry Amendment to govern Defense procurement is absolutely critical for our industry. Beyond TPP and Berry, NCTO will focus on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
About Jeff Price
Jeff Price is president of Milliken & Company’s Specialty Fabrics & Performance Solutions Division, headquartered in Spartanburg, S.C. Jeff provides leadership and oversight of product development, sales, marketing and business and manufacturing strategy associated with the profitability of seven business segments. Price’s Milliken career spans more than three decades. Since 1979, when he joined the company, he has served in many roles in both manufacturing and businesses, helping Milliken to successfully compete in the automotive industry, operational excellence consulting, flame resistant fabrics and other markets within the textile industry. Prior to leading the Specialty Fabrics Division, Price was general manager of Milliken’s Global Air Bag Business.
Price received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves on the board of directors for the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the Automotive Safety Council and the South Carolina Upstate Region of the American Red Cross.