Friday, September 23, 2005

UPDATE: KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS –
Workers/Victims of Hurricane Katrina NEED Our Help!
On behalf of THA staff, we would like to thank you for your outstanding efforts thus far.  We understand that our members have offered to send over 3.4 million pair of socks/underwear and 14 pallets of bandages to help the hurricane victims!  This is in addition to the monetary contributions that respective companies have also gathered individually. We do have updated news about shipping and logistics . Now that the immediate search and rescue efforts are winding down, FEMA is asking that all further donations go to a common staging area in Mississippi .  MEMA (the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) will, in turn, distribute the items to where they are most needed. Any donations that have not yet been shipped need to be sent to the following address:

MEMA Multi-Agency Staging Area               
840 Boling Street
Jackson , Mississippi 39020

The phone number at MEMA is 866-230-8903.

ARE YOU MISSING OUT on learning about 100 Years of Hosiery? –
Buy Your Copy Now!
To learn more about the exciting events that have transpired in the hosiery industry in the last 100 years, order a copy of The Hosiery Association Centennial: In Step With The Industry For 100 Years . This is the only commemorative publication that captures the Association’s 100-year history of leaders, events, programs and services. Information on how to order is available on our web site. There are a limited number of copies available so they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Act promptly as orders are being filled weekly. These make uniquegifts and are only available through THA. Requests to have the author, Sally Kay, sign your copy are also being taken via the order form. Visit www.hosieryassociation.com or contact THA staff at 704-365-0913 to obtain your history book order form.

CHA Luncheon Sponsorships: If your company is interested in sponsoring any of the 2006 CHA luncheons, please contact Mike Austell at 704-365-0913 Ext 204. Call early before all dates are taken. All luncheons are held on the 4 th Thursday of the month and alternate between Hickory (Jan, Mar, May & Sept) and Greensboro (Feb, Apr, Aug & Oct).

WHAT A CELEBRATION! THA's Centennial Celebration Golf Tournament is NEXT WEEK on Thursday, September 29.  We'll see you at Birkdale Golf Club in Huntersville , NC . Directions have been sent to participants and are also available on the website ( www.hosieryassociation.com ). We want to again THANK all of the event sponsors: Groz-Beckert USA along with Chemical Technologies, Exeltor, Frontier Spinning, Henderson Machinery, Ken Smith Yarns, McMichael Mills, National Spinning/TNC, O'Mara, PAF Sales, PAM Trading, Parkdale Mills, R. L. Stowe, RadiciSpandex Corporation, Regal Manufacturing, Swift Spinning, Unifi, Wellman, and Zschimmer & Schwarz .  

THA Credit Group will be holding their Annual Outing on October 6-9 at Asheville’s Hampton Inn. For additional information about this meeting or becoming a member of THA’s Credit Group, please contact Jeanna Sheldon at 704-365-0913 Ext 203.

AL Chapter Hosts Annual Golf Tournament: The Alabama Chapter of THA will host its annual Calcutta and golf tournament on October 12-13 at Terrapin Hills. This year's event contact is Bob Thomas with VI Prewett and Sons. Please contact Bob directly with any questions you might have at 256-845-4333 or email, bthomas@prewettmills.com .

College Students Share Thoughts on Shopping/ Fashion: Yesterday's CHA Suppliers Luncheon was very successful and informative. A similar program will be held on Thursday, October 27 at the Peppertree Inn in Greensboro , NC . Registration information will soon be issued and posted on THA's website, www.hosieryassocation.com .

Hosiery Insider’s New Look – This is the third edition of Hosiery Insider with a new look. What do you think? Is anyone having problems accessing the information with the new format? Do you have comments or requests for additional information you would like to see in Hosiery Insider? Please give us your feedback at insider@hosieryassociation.com .

Sara Lee Branded Apparel Acquires National Textiles, L.L.C., DFK Trading Corporation Ltd.:
Sara Lee Branded Apparel recently announced that it has acquired National Textiles, LLC, a yarn and textile production company based in Winston-Salem , NC . The company also said that it recently acquired DFK Trading Corporation Ltd, an Asian sourcing company. Both transactions are part of the company's long-term strategies to ensure a highly effective global supply chain. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

Wal-Mart Canada to hold new supplier fairs in Montreal and Quebec City : Wal-Mart Canada will open its doors to merchandise vendors not currently doing business with the company at two supplier fairs to be held in Montreal and Quebec City on November 1 and 2. The events, which follow last year's Wal-Mart vendor fair in Toronto, are being organized by the team of experts from the World Trade Centre Montreal, a service of the Board of Trade of the Metropolitain Montreal, and by the Quebec City Chamber of Commerce.

In the Battle for Discount Shoppers, Target and Wal-Mart Find Brand Loyalty in Different Customer Groups. Scarborough Research, the leading market research firm for identifying the shopping, media and lifestyle patterns of adults in the United States, released an analysis of exclusive shoppers* of retail behemoths Wal-Mart and Target. The analysis reveals that these retailers are attracting distinct customer bases, and the household shopping patterns of the Wal-Mart-exclusive shopper are much different than those of the Target-exclusive shopper.

Fire Guts Robinson Hosiery Mills: Robinson Hosiery Mills in Valdese , NC caught fire yesterday afternoon. All that remains of the building are four scorched walls, with the roof burned away. Only the dye house and warehouse were saved. 85 to 90 workers will be out of a job.

WHO'S IN FASHION ON THE FORBES 400 ? Fourteen places on the 2005 Forbes 400 list have been captured by some top purveyors of fashion, including: sneaker-sellers Phil Knight of Nike (#31) and Paul Fireman of Reebok (#346); cosmetic-creators Leonard and Ronald Lauder (#73 and #83 respectively); and the three Fishers of the Gap— #235, #235 and #258—among others. New to the list are trendsetters Jim Davis and family, ranked #198 with their New Balance athletic shoes, and Richard Hayne , whose popular and funky Urban Outfitters clothing chain has placed him at #207.

Ways and Means Hearing on Trade Relations with Japan : The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on economic and trade issues with Japan on September 28. The hearing will focus on (1) Japan's economic problems, their causes, and the impact on the United States and the world economy; (2) Japan's barriers to trade, including sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to agriculture imports such as the ban on US beef, discriminatory government actions against US products, and general non-tariff barriers; (3) Japan's role in the current WTO negotiations; and (4) the recent economic and regulatory reforms attempts in Japan.

Bahrain FTA Topic of September 29 Hearing. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on September 29 on implementation of the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The hearing will examine the benefits that the FTA will bring to US businesses, farmers, workers, consumers, and the US economy, as well as to the US strategic relationship in the region.

USTR Announces Small and Minority Business ITAC Meeting: The USTR has announced that the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a partially open meeting on October 3 in Greensboro , NC . The open portion of this meeting will include the following agenda items: update on the North Carolina trade policy agenda; overview of Greensboro Triad Foreign-Trade Zone Operations; US Commercial Service programs and services to assist small and medium-sized business; briefing on updated functions of ‘Notify U.S. ' service; and update on textile industry and opportunities for NC manufacturers.

Four New China Safeguard Petitions Filed: On September 22, representatives of the domestic textile industry filed four new petitions to apply the China textile safeguard against the following products: cheesecloth (category 226); men's and boys' wool suits (category 443); lightweight polyester filament fabric (category 619);manmade fiber coats and jackets (category 634/635).The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) must now determine within 15 working days, or by October 14, whether to accept these petitions. Thirty-day comment periods will be established for each petition that is accepted. Under normal time constraints for consideration of safeguards, CITA can be expected to make its final determination on whether or not to impose safeguard quotas on these products on or about January 13, 2006.The US and China are scheduled to hold another round of talks on a bilateral textile trade agreement on September 26-27 in Washington , DC . It is possible that the above categories, and perhaps others, will be added for consideration in these negotiations.

US Moving Toward WTO Case on China IPR Enforcement: A September 21 Inside US-China Trade article indicates that the US seems to be steadily moving toward the possible filing of a WTO complaint against China 's intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement. The article said that US companies with IPR interests in China plan to pressure authorities there to increase the number of criminal prosecutions of IPR violations, which Beijing vowed to do during the most recent meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT). US officials say they will not be able to bring an effective case against China 's IPR enforcement regime unless US companies show that it does not work by trying to use it. With such an effort apparently set to get underway shortly, and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) actively gathering relevant information as well, chances of an eventual WTO confrontation over the matter appear to be on the rise.

AGOA Has "Uneven" Impact Across Africa: Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa Florizelle Liser recently told a Washington audience that, thanks to the historic African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the $11 trillion U.S. market is wide open to exports from sub-Saharan Africa's 37 AGOA-eligible countries. While stating that AGOA has been successful, she noted that its overall impact has been “uneven” across the continent, and she called on African countries to further diversify their economies. Although more and more African countries are taking advantage of AGOA, Liser cautioned that the bulk of the trade act's positive impact has been concentrated in 12 African countries. South Africa has exported more than 300 diverse products under AGOA. Some other countries, she added, “have yet to export anything under AGOA.” Liser said AGOA has had a “positive impact" not only for African business but for American business as well. From 2000, when AGOA was launched, to 2004, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased 44 percent, she noted.

Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Unveils Initiatives to Fight Intellectual Property Theft : During this week's visit to California , U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez unveiled new Bush administration initiatives to fight intellectual property theft in meetings with high-tech and movie industry executives. The new initiatives include the appointment of intellectual property rights (IPR) experts in key overseas countries including Brazil, China, India, and Russia, a new Small Business Outreach program to educate U.S. small businesses on how to protect their IPR, and a Global Intellectual Property Academy that will provide training programs for foreign government officials on global IPR issues. The Secretary said that the Bush Administration "is committed to stopping trade in pirated and counterfeit goods," adding that intellectual property theft "is not tolerated and will not be tolerated." IP theft costs U.S. businesses an estimated $250 billion per year, and 750,000 American jobs.

The contents printed in this document are informational in nature. They are gathered from various industry sources and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or actions of THA.

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