COTTON USA Sourcing Fair Aimed at Increasing U.S. Cotton Yarn, Fabric Sales

MEMPHIS – In an effort to increase sales of U.S. cotton yarn and fabric, Cotton Council International (CCI), in conjunction with Cotton Incorporated and the U.S. cotton textile industry, will conduct a COTTON USA Sourcing Fair in San Jose, Costa Rica, Feb. 18-20.

CCI is the exports promotion arm of the Memphis-based National Cotton Council of America.

Twelve U.S. textile mills and six U.S.-based apparel importing firms will discuss business opportunities at the Fair with some 50 manufacturers from Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Honduras.

"This event involves firms throughout the cotton supply chain and should result in significant sales of U.S.-produced yarn and fabric to these Caribbean Basin nation manufacturers," said outgoing CCI President Hans Kretschmer. "This is all made possible by the Caribbean Basin Trade Promotion Act (CBTPA), which grants duty and tariff preferences to products assembled in that region of U.S. yarn and fabric."

The El Paso, TX, cotton merchant said the CBTPA offers the potential for sizeable exports of these products to the Caribbean Basin in the future.

Vaughn Jordan, director of CCI’s Mexico and CBI operations, Washington, DC, said the key component of this Costa Rica event is a trade fair that will facilitate private meetings between local buyers and U.S. companies. This year’s fair is focused on cotton knit products. In addition, a highly informative seminar will feature a session on financing, which has been somewhat of a constraint to business between U.S. companies and CBI manufacturers in the past.

U.S. mills represented at the Sourcing Fair will be: AMTEC LLC/Tuscarora Yarns, Gastonia, NC; Ameritex Yarn LLC, Burlington, NC; Buhler Quality Yarns Corporation, Jefferson, GA; Four Leaf Textiles, LLC, Shelby, NC; Frontier Spinning Mills, Sanford, NC; Harriet & Henderson Yarns, Inc., Henderson, NC; National Textiles, Winston-Salem, NC; Parkdale Mills, Gastonia, NC; Ramtex, Inc., Ramseur, NC; Spectrum Dyed Yarn, Inc., Kings Mountain, NC; Swift Spinning Mills, Columbus, GA; and TNS Mills, Inc., Greenville, SC.

U.S.-based apparel importers participating are: Associated Merchandising Corp., a division of Target Corporation; The Gap; L.L. Bean; Li & Fung Trading Ltd.; J.C. Penney and Wal-Mart.

Among other reports to be provided in the seminar are a business outlook for the world apparel supply chain, an update on the CBTPA implementation and a discussion of the advantages of the Seal of Cotton in U.S. retail sales.

The sourcing fair, like CCI’s previous CBI Sourcing Fair held in March 2000, is being carried out under USDA's Section 108 program.