WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, July 23rd, Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas met with leaders from the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), which represents an array of companies from the U.S. textile and apparel industry. NCTO’s members employ thousands of Americans, bolster economic development in the region, and have helped position the United States as a global leader in textile research and development.
NCTO members updated Secretary Mayorkas on the continuing pressures facing the U.S. textile industry, driven in part by unfair and unlawful trading practices used by bad actors to exploit international supply chains. NCTO commended DHS for actions taken under the Secretary’s textile enforcement plan, released in April 2024, which launched special enforcement operations to increase inspection of textile imports, increased audits to ensure adequate documentation for imports, and expanded textile verification visits to ensure foreign manufacturers comply with international and U.S. requirements. In May, the DHS-led Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) announced the addition of 26 PRC-based textile companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List – the largest ever expansion of that list – to ensure that the products of those who source or sell cotton from the Xinjiang region of China do not enter U.S. markets. All of these efforts help hold accountable bad actors attempting to circumvent U.S. laws and undercut U.S. workers and manufacturers.
The Secretary emphasized the importance of enforcing U.S. trade laws and highlighted DHS actions to crack down on violative textile imports. He also recommitted to working closely with Administration partners, the White House, and Congress to address enforcement in the de minimis environment to stop unfair, unlawful trading practices.