American textiles and apparel: export promotion equals export success

The U.S. textile and apparel industry has long been a major center of domestic employment. It has now emerged as an important and increasingly competitive exporting industry. The Commerce Department's Textile and Apparel Export Expansion Program is the focal point for a long-standing, major, government-sponsored, industry-driven export promotion program.

The Department of Commerce and the U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers have maintained a major export drive for the last 15 years, which has been marked by an exceptional degree of industry-government cooperation and a remarkable record of success. In 1993, textile and apparel exports increased 10 percent over the previous year to exceed $10 billion for the first time.

The Office of Textiles and Apparel has supported the industry export drive since 1979 when the Textile and Apparel Export Expansion Program was established. The program is three-dimensional, consisting of:

* trade promotion to assist in export marketing,

* a domestic export awareness program to educate neophyte exporters, and

* an information and policy function to inform exporters of trade barriers and eliminate those trade barriers and restrictions whenever possible.

The program is based on the recognition of the importance of increased textile and apparel exports to U.S. employment. The textile/ apparel industry is the largest single source of jobs in the U.S. manufacturing economy, providing employment for 1.6 million people. It is also the largest manufacturing employer of minorities and women. The industry's plants are located in all 50 states, and it is one of the primary employers in many communities.

To capitalize on the textile/ apparel industry's strengthened position, the Office of Textiles and Apparel Export Expansion Program brings to bear a wide array of program elements tailored to industry needs and developed in close cooperation with the different sectors of the industry. Specific program elements include foreign trade shows and trade missions, domestic export seminars, and publication and counseling services to help U.S. exporters learn about and overcome foreign trade barriers.

Participation in international trade fairs and solo trade center shows is the "cornerstone of the promotional program," said Ferenc Molnar, Director of the Office of Textiles and Apparel Market Expansion Division. The Division participates in approximately 10 major international trade fairs and solo trade center shows every year with consistently successful results. Recent examples of successful participation in international trade fairs include:

* The Office of Textiles and Apparel-sponsored pavilion at the Heimtextil exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany. Thirty-eight U.S. companies participated. They reported over $20 million in immediate sales and nearly $60 million in projected sales for the next year.

* The U.S. solo apparel exhibition in Japan. Forty-two U.S. apparel manufacturers of sport and leisure apparel reported immediate sales of $8.9 million and projected sales of $140.5 million for the following year.

There are many individual success stories that endorse the trade fair program. Foremost among them is the story of the Rockland Mills Division of Rockland Industries, Baltimore, Md. Rockland was originally introduced to exporting by the Commerce Department about 10 years ago. Now, export sales constitute 20 percent of its total volume, and Rockland was chosen recently to receive the President's "E" Award for the company's international marketing effort over the past number of years. These efforts have resulted in the successful selling of curtain and drapery linings in over 55 countries worldwide.

Home furnishing and upholstery fabric and selected categories of apparel have been consistently successful product themes for trade missions. In the past year, the program has sponsored successful trade missions to the Middle East, South America, and Mexico, including:

* Twenty-seven U.S. textile companies participated in a three-stop trade mission to Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela. This was the largest trade mission ever undertaken by OTEXA. The mission projected $24.2 million in orders and reported immediate sales of $1.8 million.

* Ten U.S. textile companies participated in a three-stop mission to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in November 1993. The mission went to Kuwait City, Riyadh, and Jeddah. Members reported $3.8 million in immediate sales and projected $11.4 million for the following year.

Fourteen U.S. apparel companies participated in a mission to Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Santiago. Mission members reported $67,000 in immediate sales and projected $15.4 million in sales for the following year.

Domestic Export Seminars

The Office of Textiles and Apparel sponsors approximately four export seminars annually for new-to-market and new-to-export firms. These seminars cover a variety of export related topics including market identification, product selection, pricing, shipping, export financing, and selection of overseas agents and distributors. Breakfast workshops that focus on specific export related topics are also held for company executives. The most recent program was a NAFTA export seminar on opportunities for textile exports in NAFTA countries, held at the first Heimtextil American trade show in Orlando, Fla., on May 19.

Foreign Regulations

The Office of Textiles and Apparel seeks to eliminate barriers of foreign governments to U.S. textile exports. Those regulations that remain in place by foreign governments are identified and publicized in the Office of Textiles and Apparel publication: Foreign Regulations Affecting U.S. Textiles and Apparel Exports. This publication is an inventory of the restrictions and requirements of 60 countries that affect U.S. textile and apparel export sales. The 60 countries represent the top 60 markets for U.S. textile and apparel exports. The inventory includes import bans, license or permit requirements, taxes, fees or surcharges, quotas, and prior authorization requirements. Consumer requirements of major textile importing countries, such as labeling and flammability standards, are also included.

For more information on the U.S. textile and apparel industry, upcoming international trade shows, and other promotional efforts, call the Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel, tel. (202) 482-5153.

Ohio Company Starts With Catalog Exhibition

Three years ago the Ohio Medical Instrument Company of Cincinnati decided to test the export market. The firm had little experience in exporting and needed useful information to start. Company representatives attended a seminar where they learned about export counseling services provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce country desk officers in Washington.

James Day, general manager of Ohio Medical Instrument Company, contacted the France desk to discuss export opportunities and various strategies for entering the European market. After reviewing an information package sent by the France desk officer, Day decided to display his company's products in a Commerce Department catalog exhibition in Germany. Catalog exhibitions introduce U.S. firms and their products to a wide range of overseas markets, quickly and economically. They give a firm an opportunity to display product catalogs to target audiences of buyers, distributors, agents, and end-users who have been invited to the exhibition by commercial officers at U.S. embassies and consulates.

"At that time, we had not ventured overseas," Day said. "The booth was manned by the Commerce Department and they would send us leads and data. It seemed like a logical first step."

The exhibition paid off. Ohio Medical signed an agreement with a distributor who saw the firm's display and wanted to represent it in Europe. Ohio Medical has since used the commerce Department's Agent/Distributor Service to locate qualified agents and distributors for U.S. firms in different countries. The company has distributors in France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and the United Kingdom.

Commerce Department Counseling Helps Laboratory Tops, Inc.

Laboratory Tops, Inc., of Tyler, Tex., realized it had to adopt an export strategy to increase the potential market for its products. The U.S. market had been thoroughly covered.

Now, Laboratory Tops, which manufactures chemical resistant epoxy-resin countertops and sinks used in laboratories, exports to the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, Taiwan, and Australia. Treva Dvorak, Marketing Manager for Laboratory Tops, became interested in exporting after attending an international trade conference sponsored by the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Dvorak later contacted Marv Belden, director of the EUROpportunity program at the U.S. Department of Commerce, to ask about the Department's export programs. As a result of Commerce counseling, Laboratory Tops bought the Comparison Shopping Service (CSS), a customized service assessing a product's export potential, in both the United Kingdom and Germany. A sales representative in Germany referred by the CSS is still working for Laboratory Tops.

Commerce Department export seminars provided information on the important basics of exporting such as documentation, tariffs and duties, freight-forwarding, and market potential. Laboratory Tops also participated in British Lab Week, a trade fair endorsed by the Commerce Department. Firms which sold analytical instruments and biotechnology products exhibited at this fair.

More than the programs, Dvorak cites the personal attention given to Laboratory Tops by the Commerce Department as being helpful in developing an export program. "Just getting answers to our questions on quick notice is important and we've become accustomed to calling the Commerce desk officers for assistance," she said.

National Orthotic Laboratories Cites Commerce's Positive Attitude, Spirit

An American manufacturer of orthopedic appliances said he wants to compliment the Department of Commerce for its willingness to walk the extra mile to assist U.S. business in developing markets overseas.

Bob Ellis, Executive Vice-President at National Orthotic Laboratories of Winter Haven, Fla., said the dollar volume of his firm's overseas sales are fast approaching the company's sales in the U.S. market, thanks to the assistance and counseling received from the Department of Commerce over the past two years.

National Orthotic Laboratories never would have ventured into the "uncharted waters" of overseas markets without the help received from the EUROpportunity program, the Commerce Department's U.S. Export Assistance Center in Miami, Commerce Department industry trade specialists in Washington, and U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service personnel in Europe.

"The Commerce Department provided us with everything we needed to develop sales leads in Europe," Ellis said. This included market studies, interpreters, and the opportunity to participate in U.S. pavilions at overseas exhibits.

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