US Textile Assoc. Concerned over Vietnam Apparel Export Licenses

The US Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USAITA) has expressed anxiety about Vietnam’s stipulation that apparel exports are required to be licensed, starting from March 15, Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper said.

 

According to USAITA, hopes that monitoring textile and garment exports will reduce the risk of facing US anti-dumping investigations are misplaced. The application of a licensing system will cause new difficulties for importers and create a basis for customs agencies to retain or ban shipments because importers can not get copies of export licenses.

 

Earlier, USAITA called upon the US Department of Commerce (DOC) to drop the plan to monitor five “sensitive” textile and garment categories of imports from Vietnam, including trousers, shirts, sweaters, underwear and swimsuits. USAITA said no US apparel makers support this plan.

 

Vietnam now ranks sixth among apparel exporters to the US. The country’s textile industry earned over US$5.8 billion in export turnover last year, including US$3.1 billion of exports to the US. (Youth)