Aderholt Asks Obama Administration To Protect Jobs In North Alabama
ADERHOLT ASKS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO PROTECT JOBS IN NORTH ALABAMA
Winston County Company Could Be Hurt By Unfair Trade Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an effort to protect jobs in North Alabama, Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) recently led a group of Congressmen in urging the Commerce Department and United States Trade Representative to change trade rules to benefit North Alabama manufacturing.
A recently passed bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 4284) extends a December 31st deadline for duty-free benefits for sleeping bags by one year, which would severely handicap a North Alabama company called Exxel Outdoors, Inc. Because of a program called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits program, companies may move their operations to countries like Bangladesh in order to take advantage of lower costs and different trade policy. This would cause companies like Exxel Outdoors, Inc. to lose business and possibly close down.
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a program designed to promote economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential duty-free entry for about 4,800 products from over 130 designated beneficiary countries and territories.
On December 10, 2009, Congressman Aderholt wrote a letter to President Obama’s top trade officials, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Trade Representative Ron Kirk, requesting that the U.S. eliminate sleeping bags from the list of GSP eligible products.
Alabama Senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby have also worked in the Senate to change this policy. On Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions received a commitment from Trade Representative Kirk to re-evaluate the eligibility of sleeping bag imports to come in duty-free under the Generalized System of Preferences program.
“I’m very pleased that Ambassador Kirk has agreed to re-evaluate Exxel’s petition and I hope that the U.S. Trade Representative will remove sleeping bags from eligibility for duty-free treatment under GSP. This will keep jobs in America and make sure that companies like Exxel Outdoors, Inc. are able to operate on an even playing field with international industries who aren’t subject to the same taxes,” said Congressman Aderholt. “During a time of record unemployment, it is important that we do more to save jobs in North Alabama, including ensuring that our trade policy is fair for local manufacturing companies.”
"We deeply thank Rep. Aderholt for his efforts in spearheading this group of Congressmen to advocate on behalf of Exxel Outdoors and saving American jobs,” said Exxel Outdoors, Inc. founder and CEO Harry Kazazian. “I know this also means a great deal to our Haleyville employees and their families."
Exxel Outdoors, Inc. produces over 2 million sleeping bags per year in Haleyville, accounting for about 30 percent of the U.S. sleeping bag market. Harry Kazazian purchased the factory when it was almost shut down in 2000, then hired back its employees to re-open. Exxel began moving its sleeping bag production operations from China to Alabama in 2005, and now produces 80% of its bags in Alabama. It also moved some operations from Mexico to Haleyville, proving that U.S. workers can compete in the global market. The company hopes to eventually bring all production operations to Haleyville.
The following Congressmen joined Rep. Aderholt’s letter: Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL), Rep. Bobby Bright (D-AL), Rep. Christopher Carney (D-PA), Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), Rep. Parker Griffith (D-AL), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), and Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN).
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