The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the full text of the Trans Pacific Partnership on Thursday, providing the sporting goods industry its first opportunity to vet the details of the potentially historic trade agreement.
President Obama is also expected to formally notify Congress today of his intention to enter into the agreement which, under the terms of Trade Promotion Authority passed earlier this year, would set the stage for the agreement to be signed in 90 days. After the President signs the agreement, it would then be subject to an up or down vote in Congress without possibility of amendment. There may still be additional edits to the text as it goes through a final review before being signed.
The Obama Administration announced it had reached an agreement on TPP Oct. 5 but had not released the full text of the agreement. U.S. athletic and outdoor apparel and footwear brands, with the notable exception of Patagonia, have generally supported the trade agreement, which lowers or eliminates tariffs on thousands of items.
While a variety of trade associations gave the agreement tentative approval Oct. 5, they said they would not push for the pact's ratification by Congress until after confirming details in the final text.
On Thursday, Outdoor Industry Association said will conduct a thorough review of the agreement in consultation with its members. OIA has lobbied for the agreement to include provisions that will help lower product costs on performance apparel, footwear and equipment and fuel innovation here in the United States, while creating more American jobs and encouraging more people to get outdoors. It has also stressed to the administration that the TPP must also include the strongest labor and environmental protections possible to reflect our industry’s values.
“We appreciate the opportunity to review the text of the TPP and while we are confident of the significant commercial benefits in the agreement, it must also reflect the outdoor industry's values of social and environmental responsibility to get our support, as we've made clear to the administration and Congress from the very beginning,” said OIA’s Executive Director Amy Roberts.
The National Council of Textile Organizations, whose support will be important in the Southeastern United States, said it "will immediately initiate a thorough analysis of the text to determine its impact on our members, the U.S. textile industry as a whole, and our Western Hemisphere trading partners."
"Based on our generalized understanding of the final agreement reached in last month, we believe that many of the U.S. textile industry’s key objectives have been met, including a yarn forward rule of origin for most products and reasonable duty phase-outs for sensitive textile and apparel items," NCTO said in a statement released Thursday. "While we need to thoroughly familiarize ourselves with the fine details of the agreement, we feel that the U.S. government was able to achieve a well-balanced outcome for all parties, including U.S. textile manufacturers and our partners in the Western Hemisphere."
Any disappointment could dilute industry support for the pact in Congress, or lead to outright opposition.
"We applaud Ambassador Michael Froman and our trade negotiators for reaching this historic agreement and making it available to the public as soon as possible," said FDRA President Matt Priest. "We look forward to closely reviewing TPP and helping footwear companies understand its positive impact as well as our next congressional advocacy campaign.”