USA: Illegal Clothing Imports

A six-fold increase in seizures of smuggled clothing and fabric has been reported by the US Customs Service - up to $45 million in 2002 from $7.8 million in 2001. Most of the illegal shipments are believed to come from China, and the impact is depriving the North American industry of millions of dollars in duties as well as lost jobs.

Textiles and apparel represent about 45% of all the duties the Customs Service collects annually, and account for about $80 billion worth of US imports each year.

But according to Janet Labuda, director of the textile enforcement division at the US Customs Office of Field Operations, last year’s seizures represent only a small fraction of the illegal trade. Both the Customs Service and the US textile industry are worried that the problem will worsen as the United States negotiates more free-trade agreements in the Americas and Africa.

Some of goods are smuggled outright into the United States, and some are trans-shipped illegally — made in China, sent to another country and labelled as if they were made there with US fabric, and then moved on to the United States. One of the main difficulties is determining whether yarns or fabrics are US-made - a major stipulation of US trade agreements.

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