Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) members  head to Washington DC this week convinced they may have their best chance in years to advance their trade agenda thanks to growing support for a comprehensive new trade deal with Pacific trade partners.

A cadre of members attending the OIA Capitol Summit April 14 to 16 will also be lobbying to reassert federal authority over determining “Made in U.S.A.” labeling requirements following a rash of lawsuits by plaintiff's attorney citing violations of an obscure California law.

OIA's primary objective during this year's summit will be to ask Congressmen to support The United States Optimal Use of Trade to Develop Outerwear and Outdoor Recreation (U.S. OUTDOOR Act), which would eliminate disproportionately high tariffs on specific types of performance outerwear developed specifically for outdoor recreation that are no longer or have never been made in the United States. OIA has been able to find bi-partisan sponsors for the bill in every Congress since 2009, but has so far been unable to get it enacted.

TPP provides best opening in years
However, OIA Trade Policy Advisor Rich Harper said growing support for a the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is presenting the best opportunity ever to advance the bill. Hill said Congress, which returns to session Monday following its Easter break, could introduce a bill this week that would grant trade promotion authority (TPA). President Obama says he needs to conclude negotiations with 11 other Pacific Rim countries engaged in the TPP. The bill is the centerstone of the Administration strategy to counter the growing influence of the People's Republic of China in the region. Some even jokingly refer to it as the ABC Treaty, as in “Anybody But China.”

“With TPA legislation coming up and TPP coming to a close this could really be a consequential year for trade,” said Harper, who joined OIA's Washington lobbying staff in mid-2013 from the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). “The last time we saw a trade package was 2002. So this is a once in a decade opportunity,” Harper added.

US textile industry on board
OIA has worked closely with domestic manufacturers to ensure its recommendations on the TPP to support the “yarn forward rule,” which basically means restricting preferential access to U.S. markets to apparel made from yarns produced in member countries. The “yarn forward rule” was adopted in both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

In the case of TPP, U.S. companies like Polartec LLC and Unifi Inc. want to make sure signatory countries don't get preferential access on products made from fabrics imported from non-TPP countries such as China.

Some of the same concerns prompted OIA to remove knits, such as fleece, from this year's version of the U.S. OUTDOOR Act to secure support from U.S. textile manufacturers. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), which represents those companies, threw its tentative support behind TPP in late March after US Trade Representative Michael Froman addressed its annual meeting.

There is also lingering suspicion that communist Vietnam will not comply with labor and environmental standards the Bush Administration agreed to in 2007, to gain Democratic support for TPA, which he needed to close trade deals with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea. OIA strongly supports those provisions and has hinted it may push for sustainability standards its members have helped pioneer in future trade deals.

Like OIA, NCTO has worked closely with Froman to make sure its members' interests are considered in TPP negotiations. While saying they will have to see the final language of the TPP before granting final approval, officials with both trade groups say they are leaning toward supporting the deal.

Clarifying Made in USA requirements
While most of the 52 OIA members who have registered for Capitol Summit will team up to rally support for the US OUTDOOR ACT, TPA and TPP, a smaller group with focus on building support for a new bill that would clarify federal jurisdiction over Made-in-USA labeling requirements.

The bill would seek to end a rash of lawsuits citing violations of California's Made in U.S.A. labeling law, which explicitly prohibits companies from labeling product as U.S. made if they contain a single import component. Federal Trade Commission regulations, by contrast, permit “Made in U.S.A.” labels to be used on any product that are “virtually all” made in the U.S. Most companies interpret that rule to mean 70 percent of value added.

“In this day and age it's difficult to source 100 percent from the U.S.A.,” said Kimberly Balega, public relations manager for Red Wing Shoe Co. “There are instances where we can't purchase small materials, like eyelets, in the bulk amount we need within the U.S. And, in the State of California, that means some products no longer qualify as made in the U.S. This could cause companies like ours to create an entirely different supply chain for the state of California- a very costly endeavor. Plus, we lose the value of calling our product a fully U.S. made product.””

Red Wing is working with a coalition, including other sporting goods companies, to find sponsors for a bill that would cite the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce to reassert FTC's jurisdiction in the matter. “That way, we can take money we would have to spend on our supply chain and invest it in our U.S. factory,” Balega said.