The Global Textile and Apparel Team Members:
John Schmonsees* Tel: 336.333.5345 Jennifer Harrington** Tel: 202.482.0595 Leticia Arias Tel: 310.235.7204 Larry Brill, OTEXA Tel: 202.482.1856 Todd DeLelle Tel: 202.482.4877 Bobby Hines Tel: 213.894.4231 Kristin Houston Tel: 949.660.1688, x314 Glenn Jackman Tel: 919.733.2829 Mary Lynn Landgraf Tel: 202.482.7909 Shirreef Loza Tel: 919.281-2752 Linda Martinich Tel: 202.482.3588 Patrice Mickens—FSS Tel: 803.765.5345 Richard Stetson Tel: 202.482.3400 Debbie Strader Tel: 919.281.2751 George Thomas Tel: 704.333.4886 Rochelle Williams Tel. 619.557.5899 Jayne Woodward Tel: 803.732.5214 Anastasia Xenias Tel: 212.809.2685 *Team Leader **Deputy Team Leader
http://otexa.ita.doc.gov www.export.gov www.ita.doc.gov/tic
Volume 2, Issue 1
The Global Textile & Apparel Team Newsletter
Winter 2007
New Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles and Apparel
Matt Priest, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles and Apparel, will oversee programs and strategies to improve the domestic and international competitiveness of the U.S. fiber, textiles, and apparel industries. Mr. Priest will also serve as Chairman of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), which determines when market-disrupting factors exist in the domestic fiber, textiles and apparel marketplace. Previously, Priest served as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration at the Department of Commerce, where he advised the assistant secretary on textile and trade issues.
DAS Matt Priest
Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Priest served as Legislative Director for Representative Sue Myrick of North Carolina, where he was an advisor in the areas of textiles, trade and economic development. Mr. Priest earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He lives with his wife and daughter in Springfield, Virginia.
Incoming Trade Delegations in 2007 to be Coordinated by Team Members -
The Global Textile & Apparel Team will be hosting three reverse product buying trade missions in the spring and early summer of 2007. The delegations will come from Morocco (March), the Dominican Republic (May) and India (July). The DR mission is a combined team effort of the Textile/Apparel and Trade Americas team. The missions will be recruited and led by Commercial Specialists on-site at U.S. Embassies in their respective countries. The delegations will be visiting select sites on the east and west coasts of the U.S. Team members will facilitate matchmaker events between mission delegates and U.S. suppliers of textiles, textile chemicals, textile machinery, garments, hosiery, fabrics, and yarns. Other products of interest by the DR delegates may include food, food packaging, fertilizers and equipment. Additional product and business interests of the delegates will be announced in the immediate future. All mission delegates are pre-qualified for doing business in the U.S. by the U.S. Commercial Service of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Registration for the matchmakers will soon be available on the team website at www.buyusa.com/textilesandapparel. Additional information will also be appearing on trade association websites.
Vietnam Quotas Eliminated – The U.S. Government eliminated all quotas on U.S. apparel and
textile imports from Vietnam on January 11. U.S. apparel and textile imports from Vietnam that are exported from Vietnam after January 10 are no longer subject to quota and visa requirements. For more information, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-65.pdf.
Customs Extends Deadline for CAFTA Retroactivity Refund Claims – The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security’s Bureau of Customs and Border protection (Customs) issued a new directive January 4 extending the deadline for refund claims under the retroactivity provisions of the U.S./Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) until 90 days after the last country joins CAFTA. Customs will soon publish a Federal Register notice confirming this extension. For more information, go to http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/tbts/tbt2006/tbt_06_027_01.ctt/tbt_06 _027_01.doc.
The Global Textile and Apparel Team of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Commercial Service, supports the U.S. textile and apparel industries export initiatives by offering a portfolio of international trade and counseling services.
The Global Textile & Apparel Team Newsletter Page 2
Winter 2007
Scenes from MEGATEX!
Photos Courtesy of Southern Textile News
October 31 – November 3, 2006 Atlanta, GA
Mary Lynn Landgraf and Larry Brill of the U.S. Department of Commerce, chat with Armando Vite of Mexico City-based Valtex. He stopped by the booth to ask for help locating a U.S. yarn supplier.
Mike Viniconis, President of Argus Fire Control, Charlotte, was awarded a U.S. Department of Commerce Export Achievement Certificate by George Thomas, Senior Trade Specialist at the U.S. Commercial Service in Charlotte, and Global Textile & Apparel team member. Pictured L-R are Clay Tyeyrar, President of ATMA; Glen Jackman of NC Department of Commerce; Thomas; Viniconis; Vaidyanathan Purushothaman, U.S. Commercial Service in Chennai, India; and Maria Riveria, U.S. Commercial Service in San Salvador, El Salvador. The award was presented at the MEGATEX trade exhibition for textile machinery, fabrics and chemicals.
Team Member and NC Commerce Textile Specialist Glen Jackman assists Clive Wilson and Angela Redfear of Custom Fabrics in the Hosiery Technology Center booth at MEGATEX.
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Law of Global Distribution
Reprinted by permission from the August 2006 Issue of Business Monthly. By Matthew Blackwell*
Imagine that you've unveiled a new product line. It's a huge success and companies from locations all over the world are approaching your firm eager to buy these new gadgets. Next, consider that you have done your homework and understand basic contact law related to sales under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), but have no idea what kinds of laws apply in some of the foreign countries where your new product is in demand. That means it's time to read the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (UN CISG), which was created to promote international trade through standardization. Standardization of contract terms reduces obstacles and allows parties to have an understanding of the substantive rules of law when negotiating the terms of a contract, including choice of law issues, even if they are not familiar with the foreign contract law. Read All About It - The UN CISG governs sales contracts, especially in providing interpretation and gap filling measures, between parties in countries that are signatories of the convention. The UN CISG was originally signed in 1980 and went into effect in 1988, and now has a total of 67 signatory counties. The UN CISG, in an international context, works much like the sales portion of the UCC does in domestic transactions, with the exception of a few important distinctions.
Cont’d. on page 3
The Global Textile & Apparel Newsletter Page 3
Winter 2007
Although the UN CISG and UCC are very similar, one difference is that the UN CISG requires the parties to specify the price of the goods involved in a transaction. Under the UCC, if the parties fail to specify the price, a reasonable price will be later determined. With the UN CISG, a contract without price would fail due to indefiniteness. The UN CISG and UCC diverge on the requirement of contracts in writing. The UCC requires that if a contract for the sale of goods is more than $500, the contract must be in writing, unless it is conceded that there was indeed a contract or if the goods have been accepted and payment made. The UN CISG, on the other hand, has no requirement for writing. One Way or Another - Under contract law, the moment of acceptance of the offer is an important issue. For example, if the buyer accepts an offer by mailing an acceptance to the seller, but the acceptance is lost in the mail, and the seller sells the product to another buyer, is there a contract between seller and the original buyer? Under the UCC, acceptance occurs when notice of acceptance is mailed or otherwise transmitted. So under the UCC there is a contract between the original parties. However, the UN CISG recognizes acceptance when the party offering the goods for sale actually receives notice. In this example, under the UN CISG, there would not be a contract between the original parties. A party offering goods for sale may want to later change its mind and revoke the offer. With the UCC, an offer is only irrevocable when there is a signed document stating that the offer will remain open to the buyer. The UN CISG makes an offer irrevocable when there is a fixed time period available for acceptance, not necessarily in writing; if the offeree reasonably relies on the offer as being irrevocable; or there is some other indication that the offer is irrevocable. The final major difference between the UN CISG and UCC relates to how to deal with the differences in the terms that arise during a reply to an offer with additional or different terms. The UN CISG would consider a reply to an offer with changes to be a counter offer, and hence, a rejection of the original offer. At such point, the offeree would no longer have the power of acceptance. The UCC takes a more liberal approach and there would only be a rejection if the new terms were conditioned upon acceptance. Know the Rules - The UN CISG applies to international sales contracts that have a minimum contact with a signatory country. The parties to the contract must have a place of business in different countries, but there is no requirement that the goods actually are shipped between the two countries. Also, the parties to the contract must be aware that the transaction is international. If the contract is between a party in one signatory country and a party in a non-signatory country, the UN CISG applies if the choice of law would otherwise be in the signatory country. The United States built in its own reservation that requires that the UN CISG only apply when a transaction is between parties in the United States and another signatory country. If the parties to a transaction governed by the UN CISG do not want it to apply, they must expressly opt out its application. An opt out provision must make it clear that the parties do not want the UN CISG to apply to their transaction and have chosen the law that would not allow the UN CISG to govern. The implication to your business is that with international sales of goods, the UN CISG may apply and it is important to understand your rights and obligations. It is also important to know whether it is better to opt out of the UN CISG or to be subject to its terms. *Matthew Blackwell is an attorney with the Business & Technology Law Group in Columbia. He can be reached at 410-2900707 and mblackwell@btlg.us. .
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International Governments Statistical Agencies - This U.S. Census Bureau Website lists statistical information for many
countries worldwide. To learn about the economies, populations, GDP, and other statistics for countries around the world, go to http://www.census.gov/main/www/stat_int.html
Import-Export Resources from the United Nations - The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNEFCE) has produced a
number of master templates for crucial trade documentation. The site also contains a valuable section on Incoterms 2000. http://www.unece.org/cefact/recommendations/rec_index.htm.
For additional information on The Global Textile & Apparel Team or any articles in this newsletter, contact:
John Schmonsees, Team Leader: Tel: 336.333.5345, Fax: 336.333.5158, Email: John.Schmonsees@mail.doc.gov Debbie Strader, Co-Editor: Tel: 919.281.2751, Fax: 919.281.2754, Email: Debbie.Strader@mail.doc.gov Jayne Woodward, Co-Editor: Tel: 803.732-5214, Fax: 803.732-5241, Email: Jayne.Woodward@mail.doc.gov