A meeting is being convened for the textile and clothing industry on March 16 in El Salvador, where the overall situation in the sector will be discussed.
From a statement issued by Proesa:
El Salvador is preparing for the third edition of the Forum of Textiles and Apparel (FOROTEX) 2016, a space where high-level international speakers present trends and strategies for competing in international markets.
Nicaraguan businessmen have proposed that Central America as a whole operates a preferential tariff treatment in the US for imports of textiles in the region.
After trying to negotiate, through several formats, tariff preference levels (TPL), so far unsuccessfully, textile entrepreneurs are now appealing to the union of the region to address the issue with the US once again.
The private sector and the government are developing a plan to maintain competitiveness and minimize the effect of the zero tariff entry of textiles to the U.S. market from Vietnam.
The program being worked on is called 'Total Occupancy of Industrial Parks'. The plan involves reducing the cost of electricity in the maquila parks, developing a project for generation which will devote its production to industrial parks and offer "in the case of new projects, a discounted rate (per kilowatt)".
The Trans-Pacific agreement being negotiated by the U.S. could authorize Vietnam to get threads from China and export duty-free textiles to the North American nation.
The Ambassador of El Salvador in that country, Ruben Zamora, has already raised concerns with officials from the U.S. trade office (USTR). Zamora affirmed that representatives from textile companies have visited the U.S.
The amendment relates to technical details regarding the rules of origin related to spandex or lycra fabrics, thread, and pajama pants.
A package containing technical changes to the rules of origin for textiles was ratified by the House of Representatives of the United States.
According to an article in Prensalibre.com Alejandro Ceballos, a member of the board of the Committee on Textiles and Clothing (Vestex) of Guatemala, said: "Spandex used in garments used to have to be native to the region, but this has now been relaxed and it can be obtained from other countries so as to make the article of clothing here."
Aggressive measures must be taken in marketing and attracting investment in order to exploit the possibilities opened by the DR-CAFTA and changes in the global market.
From Diario de Centro América:
The CAFTA-DR region has opportunities for growth
The clothing and textile sector of the country is ready to compete globally.
Opportunities in the region provided by the Free Trade Agreement between Central America, Dominican Republic and the U.S.
A group of Democratic senators proposed a law to eliminate tariffs on textile products from 14 Asian countries.
Textile imports from those countries currently pay up to 28% when entering the United States.
Should the proposal be approved, a very likely scenario, the Central American countries would lose the trade advantage obtained with the U.S. free trade agreement, as production costs are lower in Asian countries, because of lower social costs and cheaper energy.
Starting August 15 the textile sector will have at its disposable new mechanisms to take greater advantage of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
Recent modifications to CAFTA offer new benefits to textile companies.
The first is the Textile Accumulation with Mexico and the US which will allow the private sector to produce garments with certain fabrics made in the United States and then export them to Mexico while still enjoying preferential tariffs, explained Ingrid Burgos, representative Textile Industry Chamber (Camtex).
Applying the "country of origin" clause, clothing made in Central America from Mexican textiles will not be subject to U.S. import duties.
The measure, negotiated in 2003, allows U.S. imports of up to 100 million cubic meters per year of clothing made in Central America with Mexican textiles, under the country of origin clause.
Of the 100 million cubic meters, 45 million can be pants and skirts made of cotton or synthetic materials, 20 million of blue denim, a million woolen jackets, suits and skirts, and 34 million garments classified as "other."
Accesorios Textiles S.A. invested 1.5 million dollars to provide labos to manufacturers of garments sold in the United States under the free trade agreement.
This Guatemala company is an example of the multiplier effect of free trade. Since the middle of 2006, when the agreement went into effect, it has invested more than 1.5 million dollars to buy machinery, expand facilities, and hire personnel to diversify its production.