The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has filed public comments with the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) outlining the US textile industry’s priorities in the forthcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The US textile industry welcomes President Trump’s decision to renegotiate NAFTA. It feels NAFTA is vital to the prosperity of the US textile industry. But it also feels NAFTA can be improved to incentivize more textile and apparel jobs and production in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

NCTO says eliminating loopholes that shift production to third-party countries like China and devoting more customs enforcement resources to stop illegal third-country transshipments are two changes that would make the agreement better.

In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, creating one of the world’s largest free trade zones and laying the foundations for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It aims at demonstrating how free trade increases wealth and competitiveness, delivering real benefits to families, farmers, workers, manufacturers, and consumers. It has set a valuable example of the benefits of trade liberalization for the rest of the world.

NCTO is a Washington-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.