The United States Says Textile Exports Will Grow By 15% In 2014.

Kim Glas, Assistant Vice Minister of textiles and clothing at the US Department of Commerce, said the United States is ready to expand its exports of textiles and clothing exports by 15% in 2014, especially for exports from western countries trading partners in the Americas.

The canal said exports could grow to nearly $30 billion in the next 3 years.

Kim said the value of exports in 2010 was 19 billion 700 million US dollars, growing by 18%. This data exceeds that of the US National Export Initiative, setting 15% growth target for all industries.

If the United States achieves its goal of textiles and clothing industry, exports will increase to US $30 billion in the next 3 years.

Glas says exports to western countries are the primary market for US manufacturers, mainly in Latin America and Canada.

According to the growth of 2009~2010, she believed that the United States was moving towards the goal of "national export plan".

Glas said the US government is trying to support textile and garment manufacturers under the "national export plan" to boost exports.

The purpose of the plan is to enable manufacturers to grow and gain market share in the international market.

American yarn and cloth manufacturers have many opportunities for growth in these western countries, which is why free-trade agreements are so important.

Glas says the western countries have a good trade foundation and are ready to grow and create jobs through the incentives of American textile companies, especially with the Dominica Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

At present, the procurement contracts between the US and Central American countries have grown strongly, as many American manufacturers have fled from the mainland and Asia regions where the cost is rising and supply chain problems are growing.

The apparel executives in Central America say that a group of American manufacturers and retailers have placed orders for new textiles and clothing. In order to deliver on time, suppliers are trying to improve their production capacity in time.

Glas echoes the views of other observers, saying that there is indeed a great change in procurement from Asia to the Americas.

Glas said that many enterprises increased their ready-made garments from western countries for various reasons, such as geographical proximity, speed of listing, communication, FTA, trade preferences, quality and trust.

Because of the rising cost of raw materials and labor, procurement in Asia has become more cost competitive.

To facilitate this new procurement channel, the US Department of Commerce sponsorship forum helps large enterprises to discuss how to improve local procurement.

In the recent Sourcing in the Americas Summit and Pavilion held in Las Vegas, Garth has set up more than 90 stalls from the United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, Peru, Columbia and other countries.

CAFTA-DR procurement guide

Glas said the US Trade Representative Office (USTR) and the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) also set up online purchasing databases and catalogues for CAFTA-DR area.

This service provides a comprehensive guide for textile supply chain suppliers.

And it hopes to expand to other industries in the future.

Glas said the United States will continue to promote the procurement of Latin American countries and Canada.

But there are also some challenges to face.

One of the obvious problems is forgery, which is a serious problem in Mexico and Latin America. The government and law enforcement officers face new challenges every day.

In Mexico, for example, counterfeit clothing exceeds 50% of the country's clothing sales.

Although textile officials are confident that this data will decline over the next few years, they also acknowledge that more efforts should be made to supervise the "short" companies that smuggle billions of counterfeit products from China and other Asian countries daily.

Glas believes that signing FTA agreements with countries like Columbia, Panama and South Korea will help solve these problems.

The countries and other countries that sign free trade agreements with the United States include a specific cooperation clause in the articles, which must implement measures related to the textile industry and clothing trade to assist in avoiding pshipment and roundabout rules of origin.

Increased customs cooperation with important trading partners can provide the US Customs and Excise bureau with more capacity to prevent counterfeit imports and identify possible counterfeit declarations.

Another important challenge is to promote Latin America as a place to do business in textile and garment enterprises.

The establishment of the DR-CAFTA guide is one of the ways to achieve this goal. The US government will continue to help expand the number and industry of the guide in order to further encourage trade between the United States and Latin America.

In addition, Mexico is likely to continue to be an important partner of the United States, but the United States also recognizes that Central America has become a large supplier.

In 2010, Mexico exported 7.4% of its exports to the United States, with an export value of US $4 billion 400 million. It is also the largest single exporter.

As for the tainted labour record in the area, especially the United States taking action in Guatemala to suspend slavery and illegal labor conditions, Glas said the US government will continue to cooperate with the local government to ensure that the labor and environmental regulations in the trade agreement are actually implemented.