Analysis of Intellectual Property Chapter of TPP

Jim Carson, of RB Consulting, Inc., has prepared for Agathon Associates a detailed summary of Chapter 18 of TPP, Intellectual Property. Subscribers to Agathon Associates' Trade Advisor Service may see it at http://agathonassociates.com/textile-pri/tpp/ip.htm. You will need to enter your username and password. If you do not know your username and password email David Trumbull at david@agathonassociates.com.

Army Boot Contract Awarded

The Original Footwear Co., Morristown, Tennessee, has been awarded a maximum $10,148,631 modification (P00118) exercising the third one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1018) with four one-year option years for hot weather combat boots. This is a firm-fixed-price contract. Location of performance is Tennessee, with a Nov. 9, 2016, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2016 through fiscal 2017 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Military Uniform Contracts Awarded

Bethel Industries Inc., Jersey City, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $14,253,665 modification (P00110) exercising the third one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1015), with four one-year option years for various uniform trousers. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are New Jersey and Mississippi, with a Dec. 4, 2016, performance completion date. Using military service is Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2016 through fiscal 2017 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Short Bark Industries Inc., Vonore, Tennessee, has been awarded a maximum $11,158,749 modification (P00108) exercising the third one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1005) with four one-year option years for various uniform blouses. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and Mississippi, with a Dec. 3, 2016, performance completion date. Using military service is Marine Corps, and Afghan National Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2016 through fiscal 2017 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Agathon Associates Wishes You a Happy Thanksgiving.

Agathon Associates, will be closed Thursday, November 26th, in celebration of Thanksgiving Day, a major holiday in the United States.

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…”
—George Washington, 1789 (from the first National Thanksgiving Day Presidential Proclamation)

The Pilgrims, Puritans, Huguenots, Quakers, Anabaptists, Lutherans, Jews, Catholics, deists, and atheists who came to America in the colonial period found here freedom not possible in the lands of the Old World where an established church was the norm. Their descendants founded the United States on a radical and untried principle -- no religious establishment and no government interference with religion. What a surprise then to find that the very first Presidential Proclamation issued was Washington’s Thanksgiving Day call to prayer to Almighty God.

Indeed, the only distinctly American holiday is the fourth Thursday in November, which we set aside to thank God for our blessings. Think about it. Christmas is celebrated worldwide, even in lands where Christians are a small minority. Every nation celebrates New Year’s Day and the various national holidays commemorating great leaders, important battles, and the date of national founding.

Our distinctly American national holiday is a re-enactment -- and re-interpretation for contemporary multi-ethnic and multi-religious American culture -- of that first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, celebrated by survivors of the Mayflower passage. And, yet, the story is not narrowly the tale of the Pilgrims. Few Americans are literally Mayflower descendants. Most of us do not trace our roots to East Anglia. Most of us do no follow their reformed Calvinist religion. Nevertheless, their story is the American story. It is the story of families that left their homeland for a better life in America.

Did your people come here on sailing ships in the 17th, 18th, or 19th century? Or were they part of the big steamship migration of the late 19th and early 20th century that filled Boston with Irish and Italians? Or perhaps you are a more recent immigrant. Whenever your people came here and by whatever means, they, and you, are part of the narrative we re-tell every Thanksgiving.

U.S. Department of Commerce and the Industrial Fabrics Association International to Host First-Ever Smart Fabrics Summit

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it will partner with the Industrial Fabrics Association International ("IFAI") to host the first-ever Smart Fabrics Summit on April 4, 2016 in Washington, D.C. The Summit will provide a forum for public and private sector leaders in technology, apparel, and textiles to highlight recent developments in the smart fabrics industry, identify opportunities for collaboration, and discuss key industry challenges.

Recent advances in technology have brought together the apparel, technology, and textile industries to develop new capabilities in fabrics with the potential to change how athletes, patients, soldiers, first responders, and everyday consumers interact with their clothes and other textile products. Known as ‘smart fabrics’, these new high-tech products have the capability to interact with their user or environment, including tracking and communicating data about their wearer or environment to other devices through embedded sensors and conductive yarns. The applications for this new technology are broad, with most smart fabric product development seen in the fields of defense, fitness, health, and public safety.

In the upcoming years, the smart fabrics industry will continue to make technological advances and expand into new, untapped markets. The world market for smart clothing is projected to grow from a base of $17.2 million in 2013 to approximately $600 million by 2020, according to research firm Tractica LLC.

The Industrial Fabrics Association International is the leading trade organization representing the advanced textiles industry. Founded in 1912, IFAI represents over 1500 member companies including manufacturers and suppliers of smart fabrics, shade fabrics and other specialty textiles.

For more information about attending or sponsoring the Summit, please visit: www.smartfabricssummit.com.

More Details of Trans-Pacific Partnership

Agathon Associates has added to its analysis of the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP") new pages relating to --

• Cotton on the Short Supply List,

• Rules of Origin and Tariff Phase Out Schedule for Cotton, and

• Strech Knits on the Short Supply List.

This information is available to clients of Agathon Associates, subscribers to Agathon Associates' Trade Advisor Service, and students in David Trumbull's TMD 433 course at the University of Rhode Island. You will need to enter your username and password. If you do not know your username and password email David Trumbull at david@agathonassociates.com.

Customized reports are available upon request

Federal Preemption Legislation Regarding "Made in U.S.A." Advances in Senate

On November 18th the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ordered to be reported favorably, a bill, S.1518, Reinforcing American-Made Products Act of 2015, sponsored by Senator Mike Lee [Rep., Utah] and co-sponsored by senators Shelley Moore Capito [Rep., W.V.], Susan M Collins [Rep., Maine], Deb Fischer [Rep., Nebraska], and Angus S. King [Ind., Maine]. The bill would supersede any provisions of the law of any State relating to the extent to which a product is introduced, delivered for introduction, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in interstate or foreign commerce with a "Made in the U.S.A." or "Made in America" label. The bill, if passed, would put an end the the confusion that has existed due to the State of California having a different legal standard for "Made in U.S.A." claims than has the federal laws administered by the Federal Trade Commission.