J.Crew Announces All Cashmere Sweaters To Be Produced Using Good Cashmere Standard

The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS) was developed by the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), a non-profit organization aiming to improve the welfare of cashmere goats, the lives of farmers and farming communities, and the environment in which they live. Through its partnership with GCS, J.Crew is not only able to guarantee a sustainable cashmere supply chain but can also provide full traceability for certified cashmere pieces.

J.Crew also announced it is extending its partnership with the Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) to empower women herders in Mongolia to improve their economic and social standing. The SFA promotes the sustainable production of cashmere, minimizes environmental impact, ensures high animal welfare, and safeguards herder livelihoods.

As part of its multi-year program with J.Crew, the SFA will support nearly 1,000 female herders (and their households) in Mongolia and will focus on the following areas:

• Education: Female herders will be trained on how to better negotiate trades and contracts, handle cash, make decisions and secure higher economic returns for their cooperative.
• Financial Incentives: Incentives will be provided to herding cooperatives that include females as their members and have a least one woman in their decision-making structure, and to those that develop social safety nets and offer collective support for vulnerable female-led families.
• Fibre Sorting Program: Increased economic return for female cooperative members will be achieved through a fibre sorting program, which will create the opportunity for the herders to sell higher quality fibre at a premium price.

U.S. Considers Duty-Free Benefit for Mongolian Cashmere

On April 24, 2019, the United States-Mongolia Trade and Investment Council, established pursuant to the 2004 United States-Mongolia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), convened in Washington, D.C., to discuss opportunities for promoting and expanding bilateral trade and investment. The meeting was co-chaired by Terrence J. McCartin, Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, and Damdinsuren Davaasuren, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the meeting, the United States and Mongolia welcomed the 31st anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Mongolia and took note of the Roadmap for Expanded Economic Partnership, which they endorsed in September 2018. They also highlighted the positive role that TIFA discussions can play in supporting Mongolia’s efforts to develop a prosperous market-based economy.

The United States and Mongolia also discussed a range of bilateral trade and investment issues. Key issues included transparency, the investment climate, intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, trade in cashmere, the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), trade facilitation, and trade promotion.

Mongolia will host the next meeting of the TIFA Council in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Total bilateral trade in goods was $131 million in 2018. U.S. goods exports to Mongolia in 2018 were $121 million, up 47.1% ($39 million) from 2017 and up 111.2% from 2008. Imports of goods from Mongolia were $10 million in 2018, of which $1.9 million, 19.2% of imports were of knitted apparel, and other textile articles totaled $377,000 or 3.7% of imports. (See 2018 U.S. Imports from Mongolia, data from USITC Dataweb.) U. S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mongolia was $147 million in 2017, a 63.3% increase from 2016.

On April 10, 2019, a Bill, H.R.2219, was filed in the U.S. House of Representatives "To promote United States-Mongolia trade by authorizing duty-free treatment for certain imports from Mongolia and for other purposes." A companion Bill, S.1188, was filed April 11, 2019, in the U.S. Senate. Agathon Associates has prepared an Annotated Version of the Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act. The bill provides for duty-free treatment of textile articles containing yarn and fabric made in Mongolia, of not less than 23 percent by weight of cashmere or for which the sum of the cost or value of cashmere components of the article is not less than 51 percent of the appraised value of the article.

CASHMERE WORLD 2019 FOCUSES ON SUSTAINABILITY, SUPPLY CHAIN AND CREATIVE DESIGNS

Sustainability was a hot topic at Cashmere World 2019, according to this report in Fashionating World.