Meghan Hall | August 15, 2024
The Slow Fashion Caucus wants to help leaders in the fashion and textiles industries weave their way into policy discussions.
Six members of Congress have called on President Joe Biden to include members of the fashion and textiles industries in the White House Task Force on Climate and Trade. The task force, announced by the Biden administration in April, aims to construct trade policy that addresses climate and emissions-related issues. ...
Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, said his recent research with the U.S. Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) showed that the industry has legislation at the top of their list. The study, published in July, showed that seven in 10 leaders in fashion and apparel have plans to allocate more resources to tracking regulation in the sustainability and compliance areas.
That, he said, shows that companies in the sector have a particular interest in the kinds of concerns that the task force would be addressing.
“In other words, fashion companies see trade policy’s importance and great potential in supporting their sustainable sourcing efforts,” Lu told Sourcing Journal. “Given the complexity and global nature of today’s textile and apparel supply chains, it is essential that policymakers collaborate with the textile and apparel sector to develop policy tools that can meaningfully promote sustainability and effectively address climate change.”
He said one example of the type of policy that could be influenced if the Biden administration brought fashion to the table is enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which prohibits any goods made, wholly or in part, in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from entering the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said last month that it will continue to tighten enforcement.
However, fashion and textile industry experts have some concerns about how strict enforcement could impact processes like textile recycling. If companies send mixed-waste garments to a recycler outside of the United States, they face scrutiny over whether the recycled fibers will be allowed back into the country, because they cannot prove the origin of every garment collected, particularly when they accept consumer waste shipped into the U.S. prior to the UFLPA going into effect.
“While fashion companies are interested in using more recycled textile materials in their products, ambiguity surrounding the enforcement of the UFLPA on recycled cotton remains a key concern,” Lu explained. “We need more channels, including the White House Task Force on Climate and Trade, through which the textile and apparel sector can directly provide valuable input on developing high-quality and effective climate and trade policies.”