Posted August 26, 2014

 

Currency manipulation has been a paramount topic for the U.S. textile industry for many years. I recall reporting on the issue and its impact as far back as the late ’90s, when imports continued to pour into the U.S. at precipitous and alarming rates. The U.S. and the world were still feeling the lingering effects of the Asian financial crisis, and with China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) looming, the outlook for U.S. manufacturing improvement after the turn of the century was not reassuring.

 

Indeed, manufacturing pink slips were handed out in the thousands during the first few years of the 21st century, and various sectors began to urge the U.S. government to make effective sanctions against currency manipulation a key priority in ongoing WTO trade liberalization negotiations. The American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI), the predecessor to the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), was among those groups leading the charge to try to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers such as this.

 

What has been done to address currency manipulation since then? Virtually nothing. Which is why the NCTO and other manufacturing associations have come together to raise a red flag on currency manipulation as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks continue. The TPP is expected to come to a vote next year – or, perhaps this year, in the cover of darkness – and the NCTO has been on top of this issue through awareness campaigns and lobbying efforts since TPP’s inception in 2009. The 12-country trade pact will affect the U.S. textile industry in some fashion, and NCTO is working to mitigate the impact by calling for fair, strong, effective rules across the board.

 

With the hum of dozens of looms emanating through the walls of Cone Mills’ 109-year-old White Oak Plant in Greensboro, N.C., the head of the NCTO, Auggie Tantillo, joined the leaders of two other trade associations last week to talk about this issue. It was the second of three press conferences around the country the group held to seek U.S. government action to stop currency manipulation. Members of various U.S. Senate and Congressional offices, state and local officials and the media were on hand at each of these functions. Tantillo stood with his colleagues from the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) to highlight how unfair currency policies hurt American job creation and economic growth. 

 

As I listened to each leader expound on this issue, it occurred to me that this type of solidarity is just what the textile industry needs to raise its visibility – and its clout. Alone, the U.S. textile industry employs 500,000 people and supports another 1 million jobs. But collectively, textiles, auto and steel support about 10 million jobs. So this strength in numbers is invaluable when trying to lobby the U.S. government on any matter, especially international trade issues.

 

In recent months, NCTO has used such mobilization as a pragmatic and effective tool. In June, the council joined with its counterparts throughout the Western Hemisphere to communicate to congressional leaders the importance of adopting fair and reasonable textile rules in the TPP. A press conference in D.C. brought together the trade associations for U.S., Mexican and Central American textile and apparel producers, CEOs of regional manufacturers and trade representatives of CAFTA-DR governments.

 

We commend the NCTO on forging such strategic partnerships as it gets issues such as currency manipulation in the public eye and on the minds of politicians. The association is keenly aware that a powerful, unified bloc is much more effective in getting Washington’s attention.