U.S. Cotton Farmers Oppose Opposition for New Trade Offers for Pakistan

The US textile groups and cotton farmers strongly oppose the provision of new trade preferences for Pakistan. They said that the United States should send aid to countries suffering from flooding, rather than employment opportunities in the United States.

These groups sent letters to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and trade representative Kirk. They expressed concern in the letter because last week a major US trade organization, the Chamber of Commerce, urged Hillary and Kirk to put pressure on Congress to drastically reduce U.S. textile tariffs. Help Pakistan recover.

"If this proposal is accepted, it will cause irreparable damage, and the U.S. textile industry will lose a lot of job opportunities," said the American National Textile Organization Association, the National Cotton Council and three other industrial organizations in the letter.

These groups said: “We understand and acknowledge the recent floods in Pakistan that caused huge human tragedies. However, we believe that for the United States and other governments, the correct response to this situation is to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Pakistan. ”

These groups, including the US Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, said that they support serious efforts to create a "reconstruction opportunity zone" for Pakistan. The House of Representatives has passed a similar bill but has been blocked in the Senate.

“These bills provide Pakistan with special tariff concessions, which account for 74% of Pakistan’s exports to U.S. products, while products that retain normal tariffs are those that are critical to our entire hemisphere of workers and producers,” the groups said.

These groups said in the letter: "But if we expand any of the product range or geographical coverage in the above bills, it will cause the United States to lose a lot of employment opportunities in textile and garments, forcing domestic industries to strongly oppose such legislation."