Textile Companies That Backed Cafta Now Say Its Aiding China
2009-06-17 19:30:29.58 GMT


By Mark Drajem
    June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Some U.S. textile companies that
lobbied in support of the Central American Free Trade Agreement
now say the deal is hurting them and aiding Chinese competitors.
    D. Harding Stowe, who hosted former President George W.
Bush at his textile plant in North Carolina as he stumped for
Cafta, says that lax enforcement by U.S. Customs on imports from
Central America pushed his 108-year-old company out of business.
    “The textile industry provided the needed support to win
passage of Cafta, yet after Cafta passed, enforcement of our
customs laws grew weaker, not stronger,” Stowe said in written
testimony for a Small Business Committee hearing tomorrow.
    Belmont, North Carolina-based R.L. Stowe Mills announced in
January that it will close.
    Other textile makers made similar complaints in lobbying
visits to lawmakers this year, prompting the committee to hold
the hearing, according to Sarah Pierce, vice president for the
National Council of Textile Organizations.