Industry coalition releases statement on PPE policy

Published On: July 20, 2020

WASHINGTON—An industry coalition representing the full spectrum of domestic personal protective equipment (PPE) production released a statement today outlining policy principles and objectives needed for reshoring and safeguarding domestic PPE manufacturing.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed severe shortages in our nation’s PPE supply and an overreliance on foreign-sourced products, underscores how important it is for the U.S. government to incentivize, support and maintain domestic manufacturing capacity for PPE.

Our association members, encompassing every segment of the U.S. textile, apparel and PPE supply chain, as well as unions representing workers, acted swiftly to convert manufacturing facilities and build supply chains virtually overnight to produce desperately needed PPE.

“We are united in our support of important principles that must be adopted in order to address our current public health needs and guarantee our nation is better prepared to respond to future emergencies,” the 21 associations said in the joint statement.

The associations are calling on Congress and the Trump administration to adopt principles outlined in the statement through legislation, executive order and other appropriate means.

See the full joint statement and principles here

The statement was signed by the following organizations. Please see relevant contacts where provided: 

  • AFL-CIO
  • Alliance for American Manufacturing
  • American Iron and Steel Institute
  • American Sheep Institute
  • Coalition for a Prosperous America 
  • Georgia Association of Manufacturers
  • Hand Tools Institute
  • INDA: Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry
  • Narrow Fabrics Institute (NFI), a division of Advanced Textiles Association (ATA)
  • National Cotton Council 
  • National Council of Textile Organizations 
  • Parachute Industry Association
  • Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network 
  • SEAMS: Association of the U.S. Sewn Products Industry
  • SEIU
  • South Carolina Textile Council 
  • U.S. Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI), a division of Advanced Textiles Association (ATA)
  • United States Footwear Manufacturers Association
  • United Steelworkers
  • Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition 
  • Workers United/SEIU

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CONTACTS: 
Advanced Textiles Association (ATA), U.S. Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI), Narrow Fabrics Institute (NFI) 
Janelle Wells Buerkley, jwbuerkley@ifai.com (651) 225-6948

NCTO 
Kristi Ellis , (202) 684-3091 

Coalition for a Prosperous America 
Melissa Tallman, (202) 688-5145 ext. 3

National Cotton Council 
Marjory L. Walker, (901) 274-9030 

Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network 
Michael M. Woody, (401) 331-8483

SEAMS: Association of the U.S. Sewn Products Industry 
Will Duncan, (803) 642-1111

Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition 
David Costello, (617) 875-2492