TPP will provide new market access for Made-in-America goods and services, strong and enforceable labor standards and environmental commitments, groundbreaking new rules on state-owned enterprises, a robust and balanced intellectual property rights framework, and a thriving digital economy. It will also include commitments that will improve the transparency and consistency of the regulatory environment to make it easier for small- and medium-sized businesses to operate across the region. By opening these new markets to American products, TPP will help ensure that we are not left behind by our competitors in a vital region of the world.
The United States ships more than $1.9 billion in goods to TPP countries every day. In today’s highly competitive global marketplace, even small increases in a product’s cost due to tariffs or non-tariff barriers can mean the difference between success and failure for a business. That is why the United States is working to negotiate in TPP comprehensive and preferential access across an expansive duty-free trading region for the industrial goods, food and agriculture products, and textiles, which will allow our exporters to develop and expand their participation in the value chains of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Below is a small portion of the Summary of U.S. Objectives in regard to the apparel and textile industry.
- Elimination of tariffs on textile and apparel exports to TPP countries;
- A “yarn forward” rule of origin, which requires
that textile and apparel products be made using U.S. or other TPP country
yarns and fabrics to qualify for the benefits of the agreement, so as to
ensure that non-qualifying textiles and apparel from non-TPP countries do
not enjoy the benefits reserved for TPP countries;
- A carefully crafted “short supply” list, which
would allow fabrics, yarns, and fibers that are not commercially available
in the United States or other TPP countries to be sourced from non-TPP
countries and used in the production of apparel in the TPP region without
losing duty preference;
- Strict enforcement provisions and customs
cooperation commitments that will provide for verification of claims of
origin or preferential treatment, and denial of preferential treatment or
entry for suspect goods if claims cannot be verified; and
- A textile specific safeguard mechanism that will
allow the United States and other TPP countries to re-impose tariffs on
certain goods if a surge in imports causes or threatens to cause serious
damage to domestic producers.
The above was retrieved from the TPP site July 9, 2014. Please see there site for updates or revisions http://www.ustr.gov/tpp
You can check the government information section or the customs relevant issues to learn more about importing and exporting relevant issues such as NAFTA and other trade agreements.
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