NRF EXPLAINS BLOCK ON HAYES NOMINATION
Byline: Joyce Barrett
WASHINGTON — Retailers have spelled out their reasons for stalling the Senate endorsement of Rita Hayes’s nomination as textile ambassador in a letter sent to Hayes and members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Finance committees.
Primarily, the industry is concerned, as it has said in the past, with the administration’s handling of the pending rule of origin change for apparel imports set to take effect July 1. The administration “has not lived up to its responsibilities” under the GATT agreement, the two-page letter said, because the U.S. has not begun negotiations with countries that would be affected by the change.
The letter, sent Tuesday, carries the signature of John Motley, senior vice president for government and public affairs, National Retail Federation.
“If you do not intend to adopt administrative procedures that will lessen the confusion certain to result, or to revise quotas appropriately, we believe that you should explain the reasons why to Congress and American consumers,” Motley wrote. Until a hearing is held by the Senate Finance Committee on the rule change, Motley said the industry will “continue to express strong concerns with regard to your ambassadorial nomination moving forward.”
For the past month, as reported, the industry has recruited senators to put a hold on Hayes’s nomination, a procedural move that prevents the Senate from considering it. Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), chairman of the Senate Trade Subcommittee, currently is objecting to a Senate vote on her confirmation.
The rule of origin change would designate the country where apparel is sewn as the origin instead of the place where it is cut. Retailers have complained that the timing of the rule change would severely disrupt apparel shipments from the Far East intended for summer and fall sales.
Carlos Moore, executive vice president for the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, who is working to salvage Hayes’s nomination, said the retailers’ complaints were not valid.
“There are 160 countries that ship clothing to us, and there are plenty of U.S. garment makers available to produce clothing,” Moore said. “As far as we can see, that’s not an issue to hold anyone’s nomination hostage.”
Moore also noted that retailers had more than a year’s notice on the change and so have had plenty of time to change their sourcing.
“They are trying to use one issue, the nomination of chief textile negotiator to ambassador, to get their agenda on the table,” he said. It’s not up to Hayes to decide whether to implement the rule of origin, Moore said, because it is a law passed by Congress.
Retailers also complained about what Motley called “a wave” of 28 requests for new import quotas made during the first year of the GATT Uruguay Round and asked for a congressional review of “this aggressive U.S. policy.”
Moore said that many of those requests are holdovers from years past and noted, “Looking at the volume of imports into the U.S., our analysis shows that the U.S. government is within the guidelines to make another 20 or 30 calls. Moore added that it’s important for the textile negotiator to have ambassadorial rank because many U.S. trading partners find it important to deal with someone with that status.
Hayes herself did not return phone calls seeking comment.