Two Carbon Fiber Foreign Trade Zones Approved for Export Only

On December 15, 2014, the FTZ Board published notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 74063) Restricted Approval for Production Authority, Foreign-Trade Zone 143, Mitsubishi Rayon Carbon Fiber and Composites, Inc., Subzone 143D (Carbon Fiber); Sacramento, California, and Foreign-Trade Zone 83, Toray Carbon Fibers America, Inc. (Carbon Fiber); Decatur, Alabama.

New York City to Invest $35 Million in Fashion Incubator in Brooklyn

New York City officials last week revealed plans to invest $3.5 million in a new fashion epicenter called the Manufacturing Innovation Hub for Apparel, Textiles & Wearable Tech. ...... READ MORE.

Businessman Charged With Evading $5.6M In Customs Duties On Footwear Imported From China

On December 4, 2014, a federal grand jury returned a 27-count indictment against Thomas Romeo, 51, of Sacramento, charging him with a scheme to defraud the United States by evading customs duties owed by his Citrus Heights import business, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Romeo is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, four counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of entry of falsely classified goods, and 11 counts of entry of goods by means of a false statement.

Romeo owned and operated Romeo & Juliette Inc., a company that imported footwear manufactured in China and distributed under the brand names BearPaw and Attix. According to the indictment, from at least 1994 through 2011, Romeo engaged in a scheme to avoid paying the full amount of duty owed on the shoes by having employees and others create false invoices that substantially undervalued the footwear that was being imported, sometimes at 50 percent of the actual value and other times even less. Romeo had his employees submit the false invoices to U.S. Customs for purposes of calculating the customs duties and fees Romeo & Juliette was required to pay. Romeo allegedly avoided paying approximately $5.6 million in customs duties legally owed to the United States.

According to the indictment, during the course of the investigation, Romeo submitted to federal agents a false document that attempted to justify the lower duty that Romeo & Juliette paid to the United States. He also instructed employees to make false statements to federal investigators about the value of the footwear that was imported.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ("ICE") Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"). Assistant United States Attorney Todd A. Pickles is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Romeo faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the loss or gain caused by the fraud on the wire fraud counts. The maximum statutory prison term is five years on the conspiracy count and two years for causing the entry of goods falsely classified and causing the entry of goods by false statements. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

BACKGROUND

Under Section 484 of the Tariff Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1484), the importer of record is responsible for using reasonable care to enter, classify and determine the value of imported merchandise and to provide any other information necessary to enable U.S. Customs and Border Protection to properly assess duties, collect accurate statistics, and determine whether other applicable legal requirements, if any, have been met. An importer of record’s failure to exercise reasonable care could delay release of the merchandise and, in some cases, could result in the imposition of penalties. Classification and valuation of textiles, apparel, and footwear requires detail knowledge of thousands of U.S. Customs regulations. David Trumbull, Principal of Agathon Associates, is a licensed and insured Customs Broker with 20-years experience in international trade and can assist you with questions of classification and valuation.

U.S. Government to Close for Both Christmas Day and December 26th

On December 5, 2014, President Obama signed an Executive Order designating Friday, December 26, 2014 as a Federal holiday.

While we're on the topic of Federal holidays, here's the list for 2015:

• Thursday, January 1 New Year’s Day,

• Monday, January 19 Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.,

• Monday, February 16 Washington’s Birthday,

• Monday, May 25 Memorial Day,

• Friday, July 3 Independence Day,

• Monday, September 7 Labor Day,

• Monday, October 12 Columbus Day,

• November 11 Veterans Day,

• November 26 Thanksgiving Day, and

• December 25 Christmas Day.

On those days Federal, State, and local government offices will be closed. In the United States most private business also close on most the Federal holidays (you may find some private business open on the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington's Birthday, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day).

Catching Up

Selection device for the shed-forming device of a weaving machine:  A design for a new jacquard head with a lower latency time which allows for faster operation.  Patent:  8720492.  Inventor:  Vanderjeugt, et.al.  Assignee:  Michel Van De Wiele Nv

Garment with compartments:  A garment having compartments for holding objects. Some compartments are operable to permit waste to pass out of the compartments. Others are attached to the garment on the thigh or other location to permit access where a standard hip pocket would be blocked by a toolbelt. Others have apertures in addition to the normal hip pocket opening which may permit access to the pocket where the opening to the hip pocket would be blocked by a toolbelt. The garment may be used by a worker, such as a carpenter, with knee pads in compartments in a knee area of the garment, the compartments having apertures operable to permit sawdust and other waste to empty from the compartment. Additionally, a thigh pocket may have a cover preventing waste from entering the pocket, and can provide storage where a hip pocket would be blocked by a toolbelt or rendered inaccessible by kneeling. Patent:  8719966.  Inventor:  Grozdev.  Not assigned.

Anti-slip foot assembly:  An anti-slip foot assembly for a strut is disclosed. An embodiment of the anti-slip assembly includes a heel pad adapted to resist normal forces applied by the strut, a plurality of independently flexible toes adapted to resist the lateral forces that tend to cause slipping. A foot assembly with retractable cleat system is also disclosed.  Patent:  8720459.  Inventor:  Moulton.  Assignee:  RW Truland, I, LLC

Base fabric for air bag, method of producing the same and air bag:  A base fabric for an air bag is provided which is light-weight, flexible, superior in stowability, air shieldability, heat resistance and flame retardancy, further superior in the adhesion to resin with reduced stitch dislocation and fray. The air bag base fabric comprises a synthetic fiber fabric at least one surface of which is coated with resin. The resin is present also over at least 85% of the total area of an intertwined portion interface as a warp-weft crossing portion of the synthetic fiber fabric.  Patent:  8722550.  Inventor:  Yamada, et.al.  Assignee:  Seiren Co.  Ltd.

Protective garment with thermal liner having varying moisture attraction:  A protective garment including an outer shell, a thermal barrier having a thermal protection performance of at least about twenty, and a moisture barrier positioned between the outer shell and the thermal barrier. The thermal barrier includes an outer layer, an inner layer, and an intermediate layer positioned between the outer and inner layers. The outer layer is positioned adjacent to the moisture barrier, and moisture is more attracted to the intermediate layer than to the outer layer.  Patent:  8719969.  Inventor:  Curtis.  Assignee:  Lion Apparel, Inc.

Machine and method for the combined mechanical and heat treatment of fabrics, especially knitted fabrics:  A machine and a method for treating fabrics, comprise in combination a step of inducing substantially vertical vibrations in a quantity of fabric in the form of a substantially compact mass and a simultaneous step of drying the rest of the fabric in opened-out form.  The idea is that the vibrations relax the fabric as it dries.  Patent:  8720020.  Inventor:  Biancalani and Ravagli.  Assignee:  Biancalani, S.R.L.

Self-adjusting shapewear garment:  The present invention relates generally to a garment made from a stretchable fabric with a high yield strain and low hysteresis so that the garment is capable of stretching to comfortably fit and provide support for the unique shapes and curves of wearers within a single size group and across multiple size groups. More specifically, the claimed invention relates to shapewear. A shapewear garment constructed in accordance with the present invention could be made in a first standard size and comfortably flex and self-adjust to fit wearers across sizes extra-small (XS), small (S), and medium (M); and in a second standard size and comfortable flex and self-adjust to fit wearers across sizes large (L), extra-large (XL), and double extra-large (XXL); and the garment would retain its original dimensions when the force exerted on the garment by the wearer's body is removed.  Patent:  8721388.  Inventor:  Quaranta.  Assignee:  Maidenform

Apparel incorporating a protective element:  An article of apparel may include may include a garment portion and at least one protective element. The garment portion and the protective element have a configuration that forms a gap, separation, or pleat structure through, for example, folding or overlapping of a textile element of the garment portion. The gap, separation, or pleat structure may permit the protective element to move independent of other portions of the apparel, thereby enhancing a range of movement of the individual and the overall comfort of the apparel.  Patent:  8719965.  Inventor:  Turner and Grogro Assignee:  Nike, Inc.

Waterproof vapor-permeable shoe:  A waterproof vapor-permeable shoe, including an upper and a sole with a region which is diffusely perforated with through holes in the direction of a walking surface.  Patent:  8720083.  Inventor:  Moretti.  Assignee:  Geox S.P.A.

Flame retardant composition and textile material comprising the same:  A flame retardant composition comprises a phosphorous-containing polymer. The phosphorous-containing polymer can be produced by first reacting a phosphonium compound and a nitrogen-containing compound to produce a precondensate compound and then reacting the precondensate compound with a cross-linking composition. The resulting phosphorous-containing intermediate polymer can then be oxidized to convert at least a portion of the phosphorous atoms in the polymer to a pentavalent state. A textile material comprises a textile substrate and a phosphorous-containing polymer, such as that described above.  Patent:  8719962.  Inventor:  Mayernik, et.al.  Assignee:  Milliken & Company.

Jim Carson is a principal of RB Consulting, Inc. and a registered patent agent.  He has over 30 years of experience across multiple industries including the biotechnology, textile, computer, telecommunications, and energy sectors.  RB Consulting, Inc. specializes in providing management, prototyping, and regulatory services to small and start-up businesses.  He can be reached via email at James.Carson.Jr@gmail.com or by phone at (803) 792-2183.

AAFA Published Revised Restricted Substance List

The American Apparel & Footwear Association ("AAFA") has published the latest version of the Restricted Substance List ("RSL"). The RSL was created by a special working group of the AAFA Environmental Task Force. The RSL is intended to provide apparel and footwear companies with information related to regulations and laws that restrict or ban certain chemicals and substances in finished home textile, apparel, and footwear products around the world.

Consumer Product Safety Commissioners Meeting with American Apparel & Footwear Association

December 9, 2014, Consumer Product Safety Commissioners Joe Mohorovic and Ann Marie Buerkle and CPSC staff members were scheduled to meet with representatives of the American Apparel & Footwear Association.