Inglis brings CAFTA debate to Upstate

Roger Chastain, COO of Mount Vernon Mills, addresses the audience at the Central American Free Trade Agreement roundtable held at Mount Vernon Mills in Mauldin. Ken Osburn/Staff e-mail this story Related Previous coverage • DeMint: CAFTA would help state's textiles • Graham: Trade pact could cost state jobs • Textile giants back trade deal Related Web site • Get more information on CAFTA

Dispoz-o, a Fountain Inn manufacturer of disposable plates and utensils, has tried to stay one step ahead of the competition by launching new products, Iacovelli said, but they're "all being copied by China, Pakistan and India."

"What are we going to do — spend a million dollars in court?" she asked.

Iacovelli was among the Upstate residents who turned out Monday to hear panel discussions on the latest free-trade agreement under debate in Washington: the Dominican Republic and Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA.

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-Greenville, arranged the discussions in his home district at a time when the Bush administration seeks his vote — and those of other textiles state lawmakers — to get the trade deal through Congress.

The same political factors brought U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to Greenville last month for a speech touting CAFTA.

Joining Inglis for the discussions Monday were two Bush administration trade officials with expertise in textiles: Jim Leonard, deputy assistant secretary for textiles and apparel at the U.S. Commerce Department, and Abiola Heyliger, director for textiles trade policy in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Also participating were Augustine Tantillo, coordinator of the anti-CAFTA American Manufacturing Trade Action Council, and several Upstate executives.

One panel discussion was held at the headquarters of Mount Vernon Mills, a Mauldin-based textiles maker hurt by overseas competition. The other was at Hartness International, a Greenville manufacturer of packaging machinery that has benefited from international trade.

James Sandvos, a southern Greenville County resident who attended the session at Mt. Vernon Mills, said CAFTA presents a challenge to U.S. sovereignty because its provisions are administered by the World Trade Organization, which is not part of the U.S. government.

"Once these non-elected bodies are set up, we sort of lose control of everything," Sandvos said. "We don't vote on them. We don't know them until they show up and tell us what to do." Tantillo said CAFTA gives Central American countries unrestricted access to the U.S. market, the biggest in the world, while the United States in turn gets access to a market that is less than 2 percent the size of its own, he said.

"If you think that's a fair deal, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you," Tantillo said.

Erwin Maddrey, former chief executive of Delta Woodside Industries, Greenville textiles maker, said a modified CAFTA could help the U.S. textiles industry.

Maddrey said Delta Mills, a T-shirt maker on whose board he sits, has benefited by sending fabric to Caribbean nations to be made into garments. With the Caribbean connection, Delta Mills comes close to matching Asian production costs, while staying close to the U.S. market and thus saving time to market.

Maddrey said the United States has no choice but to trade with the rest of the world.

"I just don't think you're going to be able to have the American people live like kings and the rest of the world like paupers," he said. "It's just not going to happen."

Roger Chastain, chief operating officer of Mount Vernon Mills, said no U.S. textiles company can support CAFTA "unless it wants to send equipment and jobs to Central America."

Bern McPheely, chief executive of Hartness International, said his company's business with Canada and Mexico surged following passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994. The increased business is one reason Hartness International has doubled its work force to about 400, McPheely said.

At both forums, much of the discussion focused on a country that isn't even party to CAFTA — China.

"It's all about China, in my opinion," Inglis said. The congressman has said he'll vote against CAFTA unless the administration can provide better assurances that China won't be able to use loopholes in the trade deal to sneak goods into the United States duty free. He predicted Monday that an upcoming vote in Congress will be "very close."

Trade officials Leonard and Heyliger said the Bush administration was doing all it could to keep China in check. Trade friction between the United States and China has increased since long-standing caps on textiles imports into the United States expired at the end of last year.

In recent weeks, the Bush administration has exercised a legal right to temporarily renew caps on Chinese textiles imports, but parts of the U.S. industry are demanding more relief.

Leonard, a former executive with Burlington Industries, a North Carolina textiles company, said, "We are engaged with China. We're having a dialogue with them. It's not easy."

Heyliger said the U.S. textiles industry will be better equipped to compete against China if it strengthens ties with Central American nations. She said CAFTA is not perfect, but it includes "90 percent of what the textile industry asked us for." Heylinger said the administration is "very concerned" about China trade issues "and we are doing the best we can to take them to task."

"Every single week we are in talks with China on one issue or another."