Korea Trade Deal “Shoots Down” DuPont’s Kevlar & Other Textiles

Bullets Can’t Penetrate Kevlar, But This Deal Could

Facts on Textile Tariffs

One of the few major U.S. textile exports is Kevlar, a super tough flame retardant industrial textile made by DuPont commonly used in protective gear for law enforcement.

But according to Forbes Magazine, the Kore an trade deal “puts America at a disadvantage for exporting Kevlar” and allows South Korea to overtake the U.S. in market share for Kevlar-type industrial fabrics made up of aramid fibers. (Forbes 12/15/10)

In KORUS, South Korea will be allowed to export aramids to the U.S. with immediate duty free treatment, while access for DuPont’s Kevlar is phased in over five years, putting DuPont at a direct disadvantage.  DuPont just invested $500 million in 2007 to expand Kevlar production at its Cooper River, S.C. facilities.

But why does it matter?

• National security: the U.S. military depends on a ready supply of protective and performance textiles made from quality aramid fibers to keep our forces safe and enhance their warfighting capabilities.

• Police and fire protection: police and fire fighters are able to keep the public safe because of the protective gear they wear and use to do their jobs. This includes bulletproof vests and clothing and blankets that allow fire fighters to do their jobs effectively and safely.

DuPont and its Kevlar are not the only textiles hit hard

• The KORUS agreement also provides South Korea with a more generous and expedited tariff elimination schedule than it does for U.S. producers.

• KORUS has more than 44 tariff lines where U.S. exports to South Korea face a longer phase-out period than South Korean exports to the United States, according to the industry.

• Under KORUS, 86% of Korean textile and apparel product lines, including its version of Kevlar, are duty free immediately, while the tariffs on U.S. goods are phased out.

• “Korean exporters get to stay safe behind high tariff walls while they boost exports to the United States and drive U.S. textile producers out of business,” warns the National Council of Textile Organizations, a U.S. trade group representing the textile industry.

• This is the first time an administration has allowed a large number of sensitive products from a country with a sophisticated textile industry to receive immediate access to the U.S. market.

• “Immediate duty free access for sensitive products is a recipe for plant closing and job losses – that is why every administration refused to do it until the KORUS agreement… is outrageous that our own government would put our domestic industry and its workers at such a severe disadvantage,”says the National Council of Textile Organizations.

With provisions like these, the KORUS agreement is neither free nor fair trade. Free trade, by its definition, means that both sides give full and reciprocal access. Fair trade, by its definition, means that both sides give equally and neither is unduly disadvantaged by the trading arrangement.

The KORUS is an unfair and unbalanced agreement that provides greater benefit to Korean producers than our U.S. textile and apparel workers.

Download  – Tariff fact sheet

Take Action- Sign the Petition Against KORUS

Call your member of Congress and tell them to vote against the U.S.-Korean Trade Deal- US Capitol Switchboard Toll-free Numbers 1-866-220-0044