The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association yesterday welcomed recent developments in the United States and China, which would somehow ease the impact of the lifting of quota restrictions on apparel entering the United States beginning Jan. 1, 2005.<\/p>\n
SGMA executive director Richard Pierce said the Bush administration\u2019s proposed 30-day embargo on certain garment products would give the government time to consider petitions aimed at limiting China\u2019s growth rate to 7.5 percent annually, once quota restrictions on garments entering the United States\u2014the No. 1 market for apparel in the world\u2014are lifted.<\/p>\n
Pierce said the proposed rule, which was reportedly published in the federal register last Monday, would also give Saipan manufacturers more time regarding their clamor for the reduction of value-added requirement on garment exports to the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives us more time to get our work done,\u201d Pierce said. Once the U.S. Tariff Code is amended to reflect the necessary change in the value-added requirement\u2014and the petitions to limit China\u2019s growth rate are granted\u2014Pierce said Saipan\u2019s garment industry \u201cwill look a lot better today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pierce also lauded China\u2019s self-restraint efforts, amid reports that it has decided to impose duties on textile and apparel exports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pleased with China\u2019s exercise of self-restraint,\u201d Pierce said. \u201cWe want them to be responsible and not take away businesses from small countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Saipan\u2019s garment industry similarly exercised self-restraint in the past to prevent market disruption in the U.S. domestic market.<\/p>\n
As regards the request for the Tariff Code amendment, Pierce said no congressional measure has been introduced yet, but he added that talks have been going on with some trade firms in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Local government officials and business groups rallied behind the local garment industry\u2019s clamor for help in seeking a congressional amendment to the U.S. Tariff Code, which would reduce the value-added requirement from 50 percent to 30 percent\u2014or increase the maximum allowable foreign content material in garment exports from the CNMI to the United States to 70 percent.<\/p>\n
Currently, the U.S. Tariff Code requires that 50 percent of the value of the garment has to be added locally by transformation, in terms of additional labor, packaging or other overhead costs, so that garment products coming from the Commonwealth could enter the United States duty-free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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