New York's Senator
CHARLES E. SCHUMER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2000

SENATE PASSES TRADE BILL THAT WILL SAVE 2,200 TEXTILE JOBS IN UPSTATE NEW YORK

Schumer: Wool Tariff Cut Will Help Suit Manufacturers In Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse Stay Open For Business
US Senator Charles E Schumer hailed a provision in the Trade and Development Act of 2000 passed by the Senate today as a "major victory" for textile workers employed by suit manufacturers in Upstate New York. 2,200 jobs have been threatened for the last ten years by the high tariff that has been levied on high-quality imported wool fabric. A provision that Schumer and US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan helped insert into the legislation reduces the American wool tariff to a rate equal to the Canadian tariff schedule.

"This is a major victory for 2,200 jobs around Upstate New York and a major victory for clothes with the 'Made in the USA' label," Schumer said. "The wool tariff should have been reduced years ago when it became apparent that domestic producers and their employees were threatened. Today, the Senate took the crucial step of helping to ensure that American suit producers can compete fairly with foreign ones."

Under the current American tariff schedule, suit manufacturers like Rochester's Hickey-Freeman, Buffalo's Intercontinental Branded Apparel (a sister company of Hart-Marx), and Syracuse's Pietrafesa are forced to pay a 30 percent tariff on imported wool fabric. This tariff has placed a heavy burden on these and other companies across the nation trying to compete with foreign suit producers. Since 1991, dozens of suit manufacturing plants have been closed and thousands of workers have been laid off around the country. Many have moved to Canada and Mexico to take advantage of lower tariffs.

"Because domestic wool manufacturing falls short of demand by several million square meters, suit manufacturers are forced to look abroad for wool. The result is that foreign companies who are free from burdensome tariffs are able to produce suits more cheaply than American companies and can charge lower prices," Schumer said. "That threatens the American jobs which is why I fought to cut the US tariff."

The final legislation passed by the Senate today and the House last week would make the American tariff on wool equivalent to the Canadian rate for the first 1.5 million square meters for the highest quality wool fabric imported and the first 2.5 million square meters for the next highest quality of wool fabric imported. In addition, the legislation calls for President to review the market need annually to determine whether these quotas need to be raised. The suit manufacturers will also receive a rebate on tariffs they paid last year.

The tariff reduction will protect 700 jobs at Hickey-Freeman, 1066 jobs at Intercontinental Branded Apparel, and 500 jobs at Pietrafesa.

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