Garment sales drop 23%

CNMI garment sales dropped to $52.37 million last month, reflecting a 23.6-percent decline compared to the same period last year, governor special assistant for trade relations Richard A. Pierce said.

This translates to $1.93 million in user fee—3.7 percent of apparel invoice value before export—collected by the CNMI government.

Pierce said November’s sales of $52 million increased 14 percent over last month (October).

The Department of Finance said it only collected $1.7 million in user fee in October.

Overall factory sales for 2005 to date are at $596 million, compared with $750 million for the first eleven months of 2004, a 20.6-percent decline, Pierce said.

Meantime, he said that the CNMI government remains engaged “in extensive lobbying in Washington” to amend the General Note 3(a) of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

The amendment would decrease the value-added requirement for export apparel products in the CNMI from 50 percent to 30 percent.

“By decreasing the value-added requirement [from 50 to 30 percent], it is hoped to make Saipan factories competitive again with Asian countries’ exports to the U.S,” said Pierce.

He, likewise, said that technical material requested by the U.S. Congress’ Subcommittee on Trade for the House Ways and Means Committee was submitted Friday “to address U.S. domestic impact issues.”

A bill seeking to amend the General Note to benefit insular areas, including the CNMI, was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate, with senators Larry A. Craig (R-Idaho) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) introducing it.

S. 1954 is titled the Insular Possessions Act of 2005.

Meantime, Pierce said that other U.S. insular area officials have offered support for S. 1954, including Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

He said that Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa said that he would support the efforts “to protect and strengthen [their] garment industry.”

“As far as I am aware, our tuna industry is protected and I am pleased that this legislation will also provide American Samoa with the opportunity to diversify its economy if it chooses to consider any of the above mentioned industries as viable options,” Pierce said, quoting Faleomavaega.

Pierce, meantime, cited in his statement that a Nov. 21, 2005 World Trade Organization General Council Report to the U.S. characterized current exports from the former Trust Territories under General Note 3(a) as “A very small volume of production and trade involved in this program.”

Pierce said, for his part, said that the proposal to amend General Note 3(a) has been endorsed and supported as a means to lessen economic disruption to the CNMI economy.

He said the amendment, which is aggressively pursued by the Governor’s Office and the Washington Representative Office, is backed by the CNMI House of Representatives and Senate, the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the Governor’s Strategic Economic Development Council, Marianas Visitors Authority, and many other private business and civic organizations. (Liberty Dones)