FW
Up to 99 per cent of Vietnamese products exported to the EU would be free of tariffs once the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) goes into effect. Vietnam’s exports to the bloc could rise by as much as four per cent to six per cent a year in the first ten years.
The deal would provide new opportunities for Vietnam to increase exports of clothing, seafood and agricultural products. The products Vietnam could not export before due to high tariffs can now be exported to the EU market with more competitive prices.
The deal would also benefit the EU, increasing the region’s income. It provides a big opportunity for European exporters. The EU hopes to finish processing this free trade agreement quickly so that businesses, workers and consumers alike in the EU can reap benefits as soon as possible.
However, signing of the EVFTA can also give rise to several challenges. There will be competitive pressure in the farming and automobile sectors but that’s not considered unusual. The deal is expected to be signed at the end of this year. Vietnam is the second country in the southeast Asian region after Singapore with which the EU has reached a free trade agreement.
From January to April ’18, Vietnam’s textile and clothing exports to the US were up 6.18 per cent from the corresponding period in 2017. Vietnam is the third largest textile and clothing exporter to the US after China and India (volume-wise) and second after China (value-wise). Readymade garments had a 94.34 per cent share of the exported value while the rest 5.66 per cent was shared by other textile products.
Earnings from readymade garment exports rose 4.05 per cent yearly. Exports of cotton apparels were up 1.84 per cent and exports of manmade fiber apparels were up 6.75 per cent. On the other hand, exports of wool apparels fell 12.34 per cent and exports of silk and veg apparels fell 12.34 per cent year-on-year.
Exports of non-apparel products from Vietnam to the US skyrocketed by 61.24 per cent. Made-ups topped the export growth in non-apparel products and saw a staggering jump of 107.18 per cent. Yarn exports from Vietnam to the US jumped by 15.20 per cent, while the value of fabric exports got a boost by 4.20 per cent. The South-east Asian manufacturing powerhouse is ready to achieve its export target of 35 billion dollars by this year.
Uz Textile Expo will be held in Uzbekistan from September 5 to 7, 2018. This is an exhibition of technologies for the textile and garment industry in the CIS. It is expected to host the German National Pavilion, Spanish National Pavilion, large expositions of Italian, Turkish, Chinese, Indian, Swiss, South Korean textile machinery manufacturers, totaling over 400 well known companies and brands.
The business program will also include the Tashkent International Textile Conference dedicated to the development of the textile industry, roundtables, B2B and B2G sessions, exhibitors’ presentations and many more.
The event will demonstrate the latest achievements and innovations of the textile business and fashion industry of Uzbekistan and world leading manufacturers along the entire production chain - from yarn to ready-made clothing.
Among the products presented at the exhibition will be yarn and fibers, fabrics / knitted fabrics, home textiles, technical textiles, textile haberdashery, trims and accessories, women's / men's / children's clothes, hosiery, underwear, clothes for sports and recreation, textile equipment and technologies.
To assist local manufacturers in expanding their exports abroad, the Special Bayer Program will be organized once again within the framework of the exhibition. Over the years, more than 500 major buyers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey and other countries have participated in this program.
Lakshmi Machine Works has been having a strong presence in the Turkish market for over 20 years. It has a wide customer base. LMW has its own office at Istanbul and Kahramanmaras with a service set-up to offer faster and value-added services to its customers in Vietnam, Central Asia, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan.
The company has introduced its new Autoleveller Drawframe LDF3, Card LC 636 and a new compact spinning module, the new Drawframe LDF3, new Card LC636 and the new compact system.
Lakshmi Machine Works is a textile machinery manufacturing company. The company operates in two business segments: textile machinery segment, which consists of spinning preparatory machinery, accessories and parts, and another segment, which consists of machine tools, foundry division and advanced technology center. Lakshmi is planning new product roll outs. It would, in the next four years, offer the entire range of machinery from blow room to ring frame.
The company’s capacity utilisation levels have, for some time, hovered around 65 to 70 per cent. It feels the south is an attractive market for its range of products. More than 40 per cent of its textile machinery sales happens in the south zone. While the south zone tops in sales, inflow of new orders for Lakshmi is primarily from the west, followed by the south and the north.
TT plans to exit the spinning business and focus on garment manufacturing. The New Delhi-based knitwear and garment maker reported a 25 per cent dip in turnover. It attributes the loss in the last fiscal to the ongoing restructuring exercise and tax-related issues.
The company has already shut three of its five spinning units due to the low margins and high risks associated with the sector. It has a strong presence in the innerwear segment in north and east India through its flagship TT brand. It also exports yarn and fabric to 65-odd countries. This fiscal TT hopes to be back in the black and will focus on high value-added offerings through its garment range.
TT will invest around Rs 50 crores to set up garment-making facilities in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and also ramp up existing units in UP, Tamil Nadu and Kolkata. The unit in UP is likely to go on stream from July 18.
The company also procures from third-party manufacturers in Ludhiana and Delhi. As part of TT’s diversification plan, it had set up the garment brand HiFlyer in 2017. The brand is now being retailed through both offline and online channels. Expansion will be through a network of exclusive brand outlets and mutli-brand outlets.
Some more organizations have joined the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals program. Among these are Eurofins, the world leader in food, environmental and pharmaceutical product testing, and one of the key emerging players in consumer product testing, soft lines, and leather including chemical management and testing services.
Raymond UCO Denim is a formidable combination of advanced manufacturing and global market reach. Testex is a globally operating, independent Swiss testing and certification organization with a focus on textile and leather testing.
The Albini Group is an Italian textile company, aiming at manufacturing the most beautiful shirting fabrics, embracing the culture of quality, innovation and Made in Italy excellence.
CIEL Textile is a world-class global player in textile and garments operations, spanning across Mauritius, Madagascar, India, and Bangladesh.
The Nahar Group of Companies is one of the leading textile companies in India having approximately 8,00,000 spindles, weaving, processing, denim, knitting, and garmenting capacities along with a retail business.
The Association for Quality Assurance of Leather Bracelets Manufacturers is joining ZDHC as an associate. It is a Swiss-based international association of leather bracelets manufacturers for the watch industry. ZDHC works to eliminate the use of priority hazardous chemicals in textile, leather, and footwear production.
The perception of globalisation in Japan may be a bit different from that of other developed countries as Japan strongly believes in international production networks. In the past, a typical negotiation team for a free trade agreement consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance. These representatives often fought harshly among themselves — even in front of their foreign counterparts. Poor coordination among them substantially weakened strategic moves and lessened their negotiating power. Now, Japan’s political leadership is overcoming traditional inter-ministry competition. The way of working toward FTAs has fundamentally changed.
The majority of Japanese support the idea of TPP 12, at least in so far as they understand its elements. They believe that the competitiveness of Japanese firms resides in their active involvement in East Asian production networks. In parallel with the TPP, Japan has already completed the negotiation over the Japan–EU Economic Partnership Agreement. The diplomatic relationship with China has been restored to some extent and negotiations over the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the China–Japan–Korea FTA are ready to be accelerated. Japan is trying to be a hub of multiple mega-FTAs and there is public support for this concept.
Chaotic trade policies and tight markets are resulting in global uncertainty for the cotton sector. While production and consumption are projected to increase in the current crop year, higher production will result in world stocks increasing three per cent after two years of decreases in global stocks.
Consumption in 2018-19 is projected to grow five per cent with production projected to increase to 25.9 million tons. With consumption expected to outpace production in 2018-19, global stocks are expected to decrease to 17.8 million tons.
Cotton demand is up, especially in Asia and South Asia, but drought conditions in the West Texas region of the US, plus the potential of new tariffs on cotton from trading partners like China are serious concerns and one of the reasons prices have dropped. Trade relations between the world’s largest cotton exporter, the US, and the world’s largest consumer, China, have been tense.
With tariffs against China taking effect, American consumers are one step closer to feeling the full effects of a trade war. These tariffs will do nothing to protect US jobs, but they will undermine the benefits of tax reform and drive up prices for a wide range of products. The price forecast for cotton in 2017-18 is 86 cents per pound.
Bangladesh exporters may face an average tariff of over 40 per cent if the global trade war intensifies. The US would impose average tariffs of 30 per cent vs. seven per cent now); the EU would increase its own average tariffs from three per cent to 35 per cent, Canada from three per cent to 53 per cent, Mexico from almost nil to 60 per cent.
Even a very open trading economy such as Singapore would increase its tariffs from two per cent to 33 per cent. By unilaterally introducing tariffs, a large country not only limits its imports from the rest of the world, but also reduces the price of its imports relative to its exports, thereby benefiting from an improvement in its terms of trade.
These unilateral tariffs can be calculated by estimating the leverage each country has on international markets, depending on whether its trade policies are able to influence international prices.
Tariffs applied on developing countries’ exports could rise from three per cent to 37 per cent. But whereas average tariffs affecting countries like Nigeria and Zambia probably would not go above ten per cent, those against Mexico could reach as high as 60 per cent.
"As per The Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT), currently there are 4,268 production sites in India where participating companies produced goods in the past year. This sharp rise in the number of production sites is a result of more companies signing up the Agreement, as well as them gaining insight into their supply chain and production sites. A positive step towards transparency, this helps companies gain better understanding of the value chain and enables them to act on the risks identified. With this, NGOs and trade unions can get to the bottom of the prevailing working conditions at production sites raise any occurring issues within the Agreement."
As per The Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT), currently there are 4,268 production sites in India where participating companies produced goods in the past year. This sharp rise in the number of production sites is a result of more companies signing up the Agreement, as well as them gaining insight into their supply chain and production sites. A positive step towards transparency, this helps companies gain better understanding of the value chain and enables them to act on the risks identified. With this, NGOs and trade unions can get to the bottom of the prevailing working conditions at production sites raise any occurring issues within the Agreement.
Increase in participants
When the Agreement was incepted in 2016; it had only 55 brands on board. This has now increased to 79 brands; almost 42-45 per cent of the Dutch garment industry. It is expected that the Agreement will achieve its objective of 50 per cent market coverage in 2018. Participation in the Agreement though voluntary; is not free from obligations. The company’s efforts are assessed according to an established assessment framework.
Identifying the materials used
For the first time ever, the Agreement has systematically identified the materials used and subsequent quantity of ‘sustainable’ materials. It is clear that
cotton is by far the most frequently used material, of which 56 per cent is ordinary cotton and 44 per cent more sustainable cotton. This knowledge makes it possible to monitor the sustainable credentials of the choices that the companies will make in the years to come.
Risks faced by the companies
The participating companies, from the next year onwards, will also publish individually the greatest risks that they face in the factories where they produce, together with their policy for dealing with these risks. This will be done on the basis of IRBC (International Responsible Business Conduct) risk management (i.e. due diligence). This provides information on risks in the areas of, for example, a living wage, child labour, environmental damage and animal welfare. Within the Agreement, companies also cooperate with NGO's, trade unions and government, with the shared goal of tackling risks and negative impacts. This is done, for example, by holding discussions with local authorities or considering collaboratively how problems in the value chain can be best addressed.
Way ahead
At the end of its second year, the Agreement can show with these results that it has made progress on what was agreed in 2016. As Pierre Hupperts, Independent Chairperson, says, “Companies are making strides towards transparency in their value chains and the manner in which they deal with risks. Collaborative projects have also been launched, for example in the areas of freedom of association and the prevention of child labour. However, parties to the Agreement are also realistic: the Netherlands is a relatively small player in the world market and the problems are substantial.” Parties are therefore working on international upscaling initiatives, such as the German-Dutch cooperation launched at the beginning of 2018.
