A little-known tariff loophole could bring my NC textile company to its knees | Opinion

For 44 years, my family’s textile manufacturing business in Gastonia, North Carolina has provided jobs to hundreds, supporting both our community and the U.S. economy. We’ve weathered decades of challenges, from NAFTA to China’s rise in global trade, but today we face a threat that could bring our operation to its knees — the “de minimis” loophole.

The little-known de minimis provision in U.S. trade law allows a package of goods valued at $800 or less to come into the country for a person every day without paying duties and facing little scrutiny from customs officials.

The provision was enacted in the 1930s and was originally intended for souvenirs or gifts brought home by international travelers to help ease the burden on the U.S. government in processing imports.

But today, Chinese companies like Shein, Temu and The TikTok Shop are taking advantage of this “travel” trade rule to boost their e-commerce sales at the expense of U.S. manufacturers like me.

This loophole is flooding our market with cheap imports, often produced under unethical conditions. Millions of packages enter the U.S. this way daily, eroding American manufacturing by unfairly undercutting prices.

We have had to lay off 175 workers and significantly reduce capacity in our plants. Our story is not unique — more than a dozen textile plants have shuttered in the past 18 months alone. This loophole is severely harming the U.S. textile industry and putting national security at risk, given the industry supplies more than $1.8 billion worth of vital products to the U.S. military annually.

When my parents opened our circular knitting manufacturing operation in 1980, we were one of tens of thousands of small textile companies making up the backbone of a vital U.S. industry. We grew our business into one of the largest, most versatile circular knitting operations in the country, spanning 500,000 square feet in seven facilities. We employed 375 employees at our peak — not an insignificant operation for a small town in North Carolina. We were knitting fabric for big apparel brands, automotive and industrial companies.

My wife and I have been managing the business for 30 years. Even with the challenges, we constantly pivoted and created several years of sustained growth. We have provided benefits and job security for our employees and supported our local community.

I also take pride in the fact that I am a critical supplier to the U.S. national defense supply chain. We make fire retardant apparel for sailors, fleece fabrics for the Army, unique fire-resistant garments for pilots and physical training gear for the military.

However, as an industry, we have never experienced the level of economic difficulty we are currently facing.

Today, my operations are hanging on. We can’t compete against subsidized textile imports from China that have seen a unit price decline of 50 percent since 2011, or goods made by unethical labor that are coming through de minimis.

This should be a wake-up call to North Carolina’s congressional delegation, elected officials in Washington D.C. and the military.

This urgent situation needs to be addressed now. While the Biden administration has proposed certain reforms, we need Congress to close this loophole. Without swift action, businesses like mine will continue to shut down, leaving America vulnerable and dependent on foreign manufacturing for essential goods.

As a family business, we are thrilled that the third generation has joined our textile manufacturing company. We have an innovative team, constantly developing new products to keep our machines running and associates employed. Our son and daughter’s most difficult challenge will not be inventing new fabrics but fighting unfair trade policies and practices.

For the sake of our associates, our local communities, national security and the American manufacturing workforce, it’s time for Congress to pass comprehensive de minimis reform before it’s too late.