On June 27, 2017, USFIA Washington Counsel David Spooner, former Chief Textile and Apparel Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), testified during the USTR hearing on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

“A well-functioning Western Hemisphere supply chain is vital to maintain American jobs at home, as well as employment in the region,” he said. “Any efforts to make it more difficult to source apparel from both Mexico and Canada will encourage sourcing from other parts of the world, and will reduce employment in the North American apparel supply chain.”

Spooner, who negotiated the textile and apparel provisions of 10 U.S. Free Trade Agreements while at USTR, emphasized the need to maintain the current global value chains in the Western Hemisphere. In the testimony, he provided eight recommendations for how NAFTA could be improved.

The full testimony is available here.

The press release on the testimony is available here.