November 6: U.S., Mexican and Canadian officials will kick off some of the next round of talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement slightly ahead of schedule on Nov. 15, four officials familiar with the process said on Monday. ... "Some topics that will likely be discussed during those days include textiles, services, labor, and intellectual property. It’s very possible other topics will be added," one of the officials said. (Source: Reuters)

October 31: A bill that may help U.S. footwear companies and consumers save money on shoes has made its way to the Senate. On [October 30], a bill to designate certain footwear as eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program — which would make such items exempt from duties — was introduced in the Senate, a critical step following the bill’s introduction in the House in May. ... "This is a really big deal for the footwear industry," said Nate Herman, SVP of supply chain at AAFA. "With 98 percent of all shoes being sold in the U.S. being imported, we have a huge bill every year, and this is a strong first step toward reducing that bill... ." (Source: Footwear News)

November 6: The Rohingya humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is of great concern to international apparel buyers, who believe that the "devastating" situation requires urgent attention from global organizations. ... "Reports of genocide or ethnic cleansing are very serious and will have implications beyond doing business in the country. The situation also threatens stability in another key supplier to the industry, Bangladesh, which is faced with the challenge of housing and feeding more than 500,000 Rohingya refugees that fled over the border from Myanmar," [Nate Herman, senior vice president of supply chain at the American Apparel & Footwear Association] said in an e-mail, adding that the AAFA has been closely monitoring the situation and is in communication with its members and local contacts. ... Also undergoing problems is Myanmar’s regional competitor, Cambodia. ... The implications for the government’s continued moves against the opposition party may be worrying for the AAFA, but they are still monitoring the situation, the AAFA’s Herman said. (Source: Women's Wear Daily - login required)

November 5: Six months after President Trump ordered the Pentagon to prioritize American-made products in its vast supply chain, powerful members of his own party are pushing in the opposite direction. In a move that effectively aligns the White House with Senate Democrats, the Senate Armed Services Committee led by John McCain (R-Ariz.) has proposed language in the 2018 defense spending bill that would end long-held domestic sourcing protections, which require the Defense Department to rely on American-made suppliers for certain products deemed critical to national security. (Source: Washington Post)

November edition: There is an epidemic in the world of counterfeiting you may not be familiar with: the parasite brand. Faced by nearly every famous brand that sells product in China, the parasite brand looks and feels like a counterfeit, but does not directly call itself by the brand name. In fact, the average consumer might be hard-pressed to notice a difference outside of this single distinction. (Source: Fashion Mannuscript, column by AAFA’s Christina Mitropoulos)

November 6: China enacted sweeping changes to a business competition law to address fraud in the e-commerce industry, which is plagued by malfeasance ranging from fake positive reviews to merchants goosing sales numbers. The National People’s Congress adopted revisions Saturday to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law intended to address online retailers, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. (Source: Bloomberg)

November 6: The newest parts of copyright law are the most antiquated, and they are choking creativity and innovation. ... The problem lies in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998’s notice and takedown system, which seemed well suited for the dawning internet age, but became outdated practically overnight and has not aged well. (Source: The Hill)

In Brief

See all of AAFA’s latest letters, comments, and testimony here.

November November 9 Webinar: Regulatory Compliance Across the Product Life Cycle November 14 Government Relations Committee Meeting November 14 Webinar: Preparing for Higg 3.0-What You Need To Know & Do November 29 Environmental Committee Meeting November 30 Social Responsibility Committee Meeting Visit our events calendar for all AAFA webinars and industry events.

Don't miss our AAFA Member webinar with Sourcing Journal - Dec. 11 at 2PM ET