IMPORT & EXPORT

USA-ITA Changes Its Name After 24 Years

When the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles & Apparel was launched in 1989, the United States had only one free-trade agreement and apparel was made mostly in this country.

But with trade barriers falling and 14 free-trade agreements now in effect between the United States and other countries and regions, the USA-ITA decided to rebrand itself as the United States Fashion Industry Association.

The new name and new logo will reflect the group’s wider mission of lobbying Congress on international trade policy issues. “Our first conference 25 years ago was at the World Trade Center, and it was about [apparel and textile] quotas. It was a different world then than it is today,” said Julie Hughes, the group’s president. “When we started interviewing our members about the group’s strengths and weaknesses in updating our logo, they said, ‘Why not update our name? We do so much more now.’”

Members are no longer just importers but exporters, or their products are made overseas and directly sent to Asia and Europe for sale. The industry has become more global.

The USFIA—which consists of about 200 manufacturers, apparel and textile importers and retailers—is also dedicated to the removal of barriers that impede the free movement of textile and apparel products to the United States and international markets.

Hughes said she and members will push for liberal rules of origin in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade accord being negotiated between the United States and 11 other countries.

Currently, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is urging that the free-trade pact stick with a yarn-forward provision when it comes to making clothes that qualify for duty-free access.

Chairing the USFIA’s board of directors is Maureen Gray, vice president of international trade at Ralph Lauren Corp. The vice chair of the board is John Clark, vice president of Michar, a design, apparel sourcing and distribution company based in Los Angeles.