Free trade: Euratex and the UIT welcome American textile negotiator

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Feb 16, 2015

While negotiations regarding Transatlantic Free Trade continue, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) and the French Textile Industries Union (UIT) welcomed American textile negotiator Gail Strickler in Paris. The opportunity for a business meeting at the Première Vision Paris trade fair.

In addition to meeting several French, Italian, Germany and Austrian exhibitors, Gail Strickler met with the European representatives of the sector. Euratex said that she recognised "that the current test method for the flammability certificate of silk fabrics without a doubt needs to change."

"This negotiation is top priority for the French industry," notes the UIT once again. "We have great expectations for it given our performances: 427 million euros in textile-apparel bilateral commercial surplus in 2013 and a dynamic flow of investments on either side of the Atlantic, notably in the technical textiles sector."
 
Among the points addressed at this meeting were the immediate and systematic character of the elimination of customs duties, and the nature of the original rules to be retained, "which should be both simple and faithful to the industry's structure" for Euratex.

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Also debated was the effective improvement of access to the federal and public markets for European SMEs, and the foreseeable solutions for standardising norms and in particular the symbols used for labeling and care.
 
"The American and European textile industries have more points in common than they have differences," Gail Strickler pointed out during this meeting. "It is in their collective best interest to form an alliance based on the demanding social and environmental standards."
 
"With its 170,000 companies, the European industry is an industry of SMEs/small businesses," said Francesco Marchi, Director General of Euratex. "It is already a very heavy exporter with 44 billion euros in textile-apparel exports outside of the EU in 2014. Backed by its diversity, it expects to get the best end of an ambitious agreement."

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