Textile Finishing Mill Reportedly Laying off Workers

According to press reports, Duro Textiles has laid off over 100 workers at its Fall River, Massachusetts facility. More information is available at http://www.heraldnews.com/news/20160825/duro-textiles-begins-large-layoff-at-fall-river-facility. Agathon Associates attempted, unsuccessfully, to contact Duro for verification of the newspaper reports/

Monday, September 5th, Is Labor Day in the United States

Monday, September 5th, is Labor Day in the United States. National, state, and local government offices will be closed, as will most non-retail business. In much of America Labor Day marks end of summer.

As I sit in a comfortable chair in my air-conditioned office today the outdoor temperature is expected approach 80 degrees. And I think of the men I saw, as I took an air-conditioned Uber to the swimming pool during those 90-degree plus days in July, hand-tamping hot asphalt paving under the scorching sun. As my fingers move across the keyboard the overhead light reflects off my freshly manicured nails and the cuff links in my soft, clean, white shirt. As I think of my relative comfort I remember that I enjoy ease because other men and women are out in the heat and sun doing dirty backbreaking work. And that is why we set aside the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

Of course, Labor Day honors all workers, not only those who do manual labor. But it is good to remind ourselves from time to time of the necessity of manual labor. Ordinary Americans today enjoy necessities of life, security, and even luxuries the envy of princes in an earlier age. The bright, hardworking, and daring men and women of Wall Street and other financial markets created new and innovative ways to maximize wealth, and gave us the most prosperous society the world has known, and one in which wealth, has been distributed more widely than ever before. In sum, our financial markets -- at least when left alone -- do a bully job of managing wealth. But they do not create wealth. Ultimately you have to make it (manufacturing), mine it (digging or drilling), or grow it (agriculture). Someone has to build houses for the economic indicators to register an increase in housing starts. Some has to drill if we are to have the oil to fuel our economy. Someone has to hoe and weed to keep Whole Foods (whole-paycheck we call it my house) stocked with the organic fruit and vegetables we love to consume.

American policy for a quarter of a century has been to maximize imports and pay for them with credit. We import oil from the Near and Middle-East rather than drill our own abundant supplies. We have some of the largest tracks of fertile land, yet we import food from sources so dubious that many of us do not consume raw vegetables unless we can ascertain their origin. And as for manufacturing -- just go into Walmart and try to find something -- anything -- made in the U.S.A.

Politicians in Washington will talk much this Labor Day weekend about the dignity of the workingmen and women of America, but the policies they enact tell a different tale. President Obama is pushing congress to approve a new free trade agreement with Communist Vietnam and Brunei, an Islamic state where most criminal activity is defined and punished according to draconian Islamic sharia law.

If this deal goes through more U.S. jobs will be lost, replaced by manufacturing, mining, and agricultural work in nations that do not honor labor, but rather subject their workers to unsafe and unhealthy conditions and low pay.

You do not respect the dignity of the workingman or woman by destroying his or her job.

Two Advanced Textile and Clothing Events in Boston

July 29, 2016, I attended the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America Inaugural Membership Day at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

AFFOA’s mission is to enable a manufacturing-based revolution by transforming traditional fibers, yarns, and fabrics into highly sophisticated, integrated and networked devices and systems.

Guiding principles:

• Lasting Institute – AFFOA is conceived and constructed with the goal of establishing a financially viable organization that will have a significant and enduring impact on the U.S. fibers and textiles manufacturing sector.
• Dedicated Mission – AFFOA NPO’s sole purpose is to administer and carry out the mission of AFFOA.
• Sustainability – AFFOA’s governance structure works now and will work five years from now.
• Independence –AFFOA should be perceived and act as an independent organization and be held accountable to all of its stakeholders.
• Transparency – Responsibilities and roles of the various components of the governance structure are clear.
• Representation and Integration – Governance structure engenders communication and participation of AFFOA stakeholders across the AFFOA ecosystem through representative bodies.
• Simple and efficient decision making – Governance structure enables efficient and rapid decision making and operations (not business as usual).
• Product – Product context, product roadmaps and the ability to engage industry in proprietary ways are critical to AFFOA’s engagement of industry now and in the future.
• Government Involvement – Governance structure enables Federal Government participation now and in the future.

Learn more at http://join.affoa.org/.

Thursday, August 25, 2016, I attended the Proof Challenge Kickoff: Designing the Chemical Biological Defense Suit at the Boston Museum of Science, organized by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. See more information at www.proofchallenge.com.

Contract for Military Cots Awarded

North American Manufacturing, Scranton, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a maximum $34,255,435 modification (P00004) exercising the second one-year option period of a two-year base contract (SPE8ED-13-D-0001) with three one-year option periods for military cots. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Pennsylvania, with a Sept. 26, 2017, performance completion date. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. 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.

Cotton Research and Promotion Program Hall of Fame 2016 Inductees Announced

Cotton Incorporated has announced the 2016 class of the Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame. The program, now in its third year, recognizes U.S. cotton industry leaders that have made significant contributions to the Program or to the cotton industry in general. The honorees will be formally inducted into the Cotton Research and Promotion Program Hall of Fame at the joint Cotton Incorporated/Cotton Board annual meeting this December in New Orleans.

The four honorees for the 2016 Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame include: William A. "Bill" Baxter (Arkansas); the late Jack S. Hamilton (Louisiana); Kent Nix (Texas); and J. Nicholas "Nick" Hahn (New York).

The Cotton Research and Promotion Program was established in 1966 to expand the demand for upland cotton and to increase profitability for both cotton growers and importers of cotton products.

"Over the past few decades, the cotton industry has continued to evolve and advance in many ways," says Berrye Worsham, President and CEO of Cotton Incorporated. "The tireless dedication and many contributions of the 2016 Hall of Fame Inductees have shaped the industry as we know it today and will further impact future growth and advancement."

The 2016 honorees of the Cotton Research and Promotion Program Hall of Fame were chosen from nominations made by Certified Producer and Importer Organizations and voted upon by the Chairman's Committee of the Cotton Incorporated Board of Directors.

• William A. "Bill" Baxter has served as a board member of Cotton Council International, a member delegate of the National Cotton Council, and as a director and chairman of the Cotton Board. Baxter has also been the recipient of the "Arkansas Cotton Achievement Award," and was elected into the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1999. Baxter currently serves as President and Operating Officer of Baxter Land Company.
• Jack S. Hamilton (deceased) provided many years of leadership and dedication to the industry, having served as Chairman of Cotton Incorporated and Chairman of the National Cotton Council, a director of Cotton Council International, and the President of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association. Hamilton also served as the first President of the Louisiana Cotton & Grain Association, an organization he helped found in 1968.
• Kent Nix is recognized for his long tenure and strong leadership during his time on The Cotton Board, beginning his service as an alternate and transitioning through the ranks before becoming Chairman. His role in ensuring and including the importer segment of the industry was very instrumental to the Program. Nix has also served on the Plains Cotton Growers Board of Directors and the Plains Cotton Improvement Committee.
• J. Nicholas "Nick" Hahn held several positions at Cotton Incorporated, and has the distinction of leading the company twice; as both the second and fourth President and CEO.  Hahn built on the marketing legacy of Dukes Wooters, the first President of Cotton Incorporated, and elevated the Company's marketing efforts to new levels of sophistication.

About Cotton Incorporated
Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. cotton producers and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, conducts worldwide research and promotion activities to increase the demand for and profitability of cotton.

Max Home, LLC (Upholstered Furniture) FTZ Approved, Subject to Limits

On August 23, 2016 the Foreign Trade Zone Board published in the Federal Register Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 158—Vicksburg/Jackson, Mississippi; Authorization of Limited Production Activity; Max Home, LLC (Upholstered Furniture); Iuka and Fulton, Mississippi.

On March 17, 2016, the Greater Mississippi Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., grantee of FTZ 158, submitted a notification of proposed production activity to the FTZ Board on behalf of Max Home, LLC, within Subzone 158F, in Iuka and Fulton, Mississippi.

The notification was processed in accordance with the regulations of the FTZ Board (15 CFR part 400), including notice in the Federal Register inviting public comment (81 FR 20617-20618, April 8, 2016). The FTZ Board has determined that further review of part of the proposed activity is warranted at this time. The production activity described in the notification, including indefinite extension of production authority, is authorized on a limited basis, subject to the FTZ Act and the Board's regulations, including Section 400.14, and further subject to a restriction requiring that foreign status upholstery leather (HTSUS 4107.11, 4107.92 and 4107.99) be admitted to the subzone in privileged foreign status (19 CFR 146.41). The activity otherwise remains subject to the restrictions and conditions established under Board Order 1744.

When you operate under Foreign Trade Zone procedures, your company is treated (for purposes of customs duties) like it’s located outside the United States. That can mean that U.S. import duties don’t have to be paid on imported components coming to your factory. If your finished product is ultimately shipped to the U.S. market, you may have the option of paying the finished product duty rate rather than the component duty rate. (Many finished products have lower duty rates – or are duty-free – than their components.) And if you re-export the finished product, you don’t ever pay duties on the component materials. There are other potential savings, too, like avoiding duties on imported materials that become scrap, and possible administrative savings and efficiencies.

What are the benefits?

• Duty Exemption. No duties on re-exports compared to duty drawback which is a refund of duty paid when the product is later exported.
• Duty Deferral. Customs duties and federal excise tax deferred on imports.
• Inverted Tariff. In situations where zone manufacturing results in a finished product that has a lower duty rate than the rates on foreign inputs (inverted tariff), the finished products may be entered at the duty rate that applies to its condition as it leaves the zone — subject to public interest considerations.
• Logistical Benefits. Companies using Foreign Trade Zone procedures may have access to streamlined customs procedures (e.g. “weekly entry” or “direct delivery”).
• Other Benefits. Foreign goods and domestic goods held for export are exempt from state/local inventory taxes. Foreign Trade Zone status may also make a site eligible for state/local benefits which are unrelated to the Foreign Trade Zone Act.

Examples of successful Foreign Trade Zone implementation:

Claremont Flock, a textile company in Leominster, Massachusetts, imports textile fiber called “tow” and processes it into another form of textile fiber called “flock.” Claremont was paying 7.5% duty on their imports of tow. We helped Claremont qualify for Foreign Trade Zone procedures. Now they import tow without paying the duty, turn it into flock, and when the flock leaves the factory it is subject to the rate of duty applicable to flock, which is zero. Claremont said in a newspaper article that this will save them $250,000 per year.

Millipore Corporation located in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, manufacturers filters containing the imported material polyvinylidene fluoride. Utilizing Foreign Trade Zone procedures they avoid the 6.5% import duty on polyvinylidene fluoride. On its domestic shipment and exports to NAFTA markets, the company is entitled to elect the duty rate that applies to finished filters, (0 %) and thus save the company significant amounts of money.

Questions? We Can Help

David Trumbull, Agathon Associates, has over twenty years of experience assisting U.S. manufacturing companies to save money through informed use of the U.S. Customs regulations. He has worked with companies to file Foreign Trade Zone applications. David has also testified as an expert witness at the Foreign Trade Zone Board in Washington, DC. He is a Licensed Customs Broker (Lic. No. 30179) and was, from 2007 to 2013, an official advisor on manufacturing trade policy to the administrations of presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Glenn Page, New England Global Advisors, spent over 30 years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, (CBP). While assigned to the Portsmouth, NH office of CBP he managed oversight for U.S. Customs of Foreign Trade Zone 81, which included Millipore Corporation and Westinghouse Electric.

Glenn and David recently worked together with Claremont Flock in obtaining and utilizing Foreign Trade Zone procedures.

Glenn can be reached at 603-957-8247 or glenn@neglobaladvisors.com

David can be reached at 617-237-6008 or david@agathonassociates.com

Pendleton Woolen Mills Opens New Store In The Heart Of Downtown Seattle

Pendleton Woolen Mills, a globally celebrated American lifestyle brand headquartered in Portland, Oregon, announces the Grand Opening of the newest retail store in Seattle, Washington. The three day opening (Thursday – Saturday, August 25-27, 2016) will include several special events; a birthday party for the National Park Service, which celebrates 100 years on August 25th, a Pendleton Whisky and Rogue craft brew tasting, special Pendleton Maker guest, gifts with purchase, daily prize drawings, and more. See below for a complete list of activities. The new Pendleton store in downtown Seattle offers women’s and men’s apparel, accessories, blankets and home furnishings. ... READ MORE HERE.