Priority Trade Issue: Textiles

CBP’s efforts in the textile area focus on promoting legitimate trade, while also encouraging a strong domestic manufacturing base.  As one of the largest manufacturing employers in the United States, the textile sector is a key component of the U.S. economy.  The goal of the Textiles Priority Trade Issue is to ensure that textile imports, which generated 40 percent of the duties collected by CBP in fiscal year 2014, fully comply with applicable laws, regulations, quotas, Trade Preference Program requirements and Intellectual Property provisions.

The enforcement of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and legislative mandates continues to make textiles a politically sensitive industry. The average duty rate for textiles is 16% and more than $21.1 billion of entered textiles and wearing apparel claim preferential tariff treatment, placing textiles and apparel at a high risk for non-compliance.

Additional Resources

• Textile Enforcement Statistics
• Textiles and Wearing Apparel Priority Trade Issue Brochure
• Textile Book Transmittals (TBTs) – Policy guidance on textile and apparel rules and regulations
• Priority Trade Issue: Trade Agreements - Information related to the various Trade Preference Programs; including implementation instructions and Certification of Origin Template
• Quota Enforcement and Administration – Quota Bulletins and Commodity Graph Reports and Tariff Preference Levels regarding textile and apparel import limits
• Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) – Additional information related to textile and apparel imports