US Clothing Firms Urge Cambodian Trade Benefits

Nine major clothing companies in the US sent a letter last week to the US legislature urging it to afford Cambodia trade benefits ?to salvage its sagging apparel industry,? according to a copy of the letter obtained yesterday.

The letter, dated Nov 18, noted that US imports of Cambodian-made garments have reduced by about 30 percent compared to 2008 levels and that trade benefits will stem the decline.

?Given the stakes involved, we urge the US Congress to quickly pass such legislation granting Cambodia immediate duty-free and quota-free access to the US market for apparel products,? said the letter, signed by Gap Inc, Levi Strauss, Nike, among other prominent.

The letter was addressed to the Democratic chairmen and ranking Republican members of the Finance Committee in the US Senate and the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives, the US legislature?s lower chamber. Both are congressional panels that write tax legislation.

It said that the dire circumstances of Cambodia?s declining garment trade meant the country could not wait for an overhaul of the US system of duty preferences and that Cambodia deserves ?immediate assistance,? partly in recognition of its efforts to maintain relatively high labor standards.

?[W]e believe that Cambodia represents a special case for immediate assistance,? the letter states.

The same day the letter was written, Congressman Jim McDermott, a Democrat from the of Washington, introduced a draft law in the House of Representatives that would allow garment exporters in least developed countries, including Cambodia and Bangladesh, limited duty-free access to the US market.

Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh also told lawmakers in Washington last week that Cambodia?s ailing garment industry is in ?crisis.?

Cambodia has been lobbying Congress to allow duty-free Cambodian garments since 2005 and has been met with resistance from African countries. The day after the McDermott bill was introduced, ambassadors in the US representing 13 African nations expressed opposition, calling Cambodia and Bangladesh ?apparel export giants? and asking that both the countries not receive any trade benefits.

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily