WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced that in the last year they seized more than $100 million in wearing apparel and textile goods that were misrepresented, smuggled or illegally transshipped in an effort to circumvent U.S. textile trade laws and regulations.  Of that amount, $3 million worth of socks were confiscated.  Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) has successfully sought funding totaling $19 million for this important effort over the last two fiscal years.

“While increasing trade among nations is a worthy goal, it can’t come at the expense of American workers,” said Congressman Aderholt.  “It’s important that we stop the illegal importation of textile goods.  Such actions harm American workers by creating uneven playing fields favorable to unscrupulous foreign manufacturers.”

Many different schemes are used to evade duty or quotas on textiles being brought into the country. Some importers circumvent quotas by transshipment, the practice of changing the country of origin of their goods. Still others use false documents or labels or provide incorrect descriptions of the merchandise.  In both FY 2006 and 2007, Congressman Aderholt included $4.75 million in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill for CBP and an additional $4.75 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop illegal textile transshipments.

One of the enforcement tools being used by CBP is on-site verification of manufacturers. Since last October, CBP Textile Production Verification teams have traveled to close to 450 foreign factories in 12 countries to review and verify that wearing apparel that is shipped to the U.S. is produced at those facilities.  Sites are selected after extensive trade analysis. Countries are categorized based on risk for non-compliance with trade laws and policies. Those countries that are identified as high-risk go to the top of the list for verification activities, but selection of individual manufacturers is also a result of the application of stringent targeting techniques.

Congressman Aderholt concluded, “I will continue to work to ensure that we are doing everything within our power to protect Alabama’s textile manufacturers.  The jobs they provide are too important to do otherwise.”

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