TUCP asks Noynoy to push for renewal of RP-US textile trade pact

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s largest labor group yesterday called on presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to push for the renewal of US-RP textile trade agreement to revive the local textile industry and generate more local jobs.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Aquino should persuade American lawmakers to pass a measure reviving the United States and Philippines’ textile and apparel trade .”

Mr. Aquino’s powerful fresh mandate puts him in a superb position to influence key US legislators to approve the bill,” said TUCP secretary general and former Senator Ernesto Herrera.

According to Herrera, there is a pending bill before US Congress which if approved would allow Philippine-made garments using American fabrics greater access to the US market for men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, worth some $200 billion annually.

The proposed Save Our Industries Act, Herrera noted, would rescue the moribund US textile industry, but it would expire in December if the US Congress fails to act on the bill.

“The bill is mutually beneficial to the Philippines and the US It will spur thousands of new jobs, both in our labor-intensive garments industry and in America’s textile sector,” Herrera pointed out.

At present, Herrera said, garments are already the country’s second-largest export to the US, after semiconductors.

Once the US Congress enacts the measure, Herrera said, a greater number of American garment makers are expected to build new or additional factories in Manila, or expand their existing contract-manufacturing activities here.

“They will bring in American textiles, provide gainful employment to thousands of Filipino workers who will design, cut and sew the garments, and then export the ready-to-wear clothes back to the US,” he said.

 “They will be driven to do this because once their Philippine-made garments are shipped to America, they will enjoy higher margins not just because of the low cost of production here, but also owing to the reduced if not zero US tariffs,” Herrera added.

The American firms likely to be drawn to the Philippines include Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., Levi-Strauss & Co., Guess? Inc., Urban Outfitters Inc., Aeropostale Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Hot Topic Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co., True Religion Apparel Inc., The Gap Inc.;Limited Brands Inc.; Buckle Inc.; The Wet Seal Inc., Zumiez Inc., J. C. Penney Co. Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., AnnTaylor Stores Corp., Cache Inc., The Cato Corp., Charming Shoppes Inc., Chico’s FAS Inc., Christopher and Banks Corp., J. Crew Group Inc., Bebe Stores Inc., The Talbots Inc., New York & Co. Inc., and Coldwater Creek Inc.

Herrera said many of the American firms are specialty apparel retailers or department stores that produce their own lines of clothing for men, women and children, and some of them already have existing Philippine facilities here.