By Kristi Ellis
“I think that we knew it would be difficult to resolve so many issues this week,” said Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Fashion Industry Association. “What is clear now is that it will take some time to craft a compromise on the biggest issues — autos, dairy and IP.”
“Definitely TPP will go forward. In the enthusiasm after approval of Trade Promotion Authority, we were hopeful that the negotiations would also move quickly. But it is hard to move quickly when there are 12 countries at the negotiating table,” she noted.
Vietnam is seen as the linchpin of the deal for retailers and brands. The country is the second-largest apparel supplier to the U.S. and could gain significantly with a finalized deal.
“Vietnam, of course is what everyone is looking forward to. I understand there is quite a bit of investment going in there,” said Maureen Gray, vice president of international trade at Ralph Lauren Corp. and chair of USFIA, which held a summer symposium here on Capitol Hill Thursday. “How soon it will be available for us, we still don’t know. I don’t think you are looking at anything until 2017 or 2018.”