{"id":258,"date":"2018-03-17T20:07:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T00:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/?page_id=258"},"modified":"2018-04-23T00:15:37","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T04:15:37","slug":"chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class='et-dropcap' style=\"font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;\">I<\/span> nstead of introducing anti-dumping duties, the heads of state of the six EAC countries decided to use other trade measures to protect their domestic textile manufacturing. This involved hiking tariffs on the import of second-hand clothing as well as announcing their intention to completely phase-out second-hand clothing by 2019.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In June 2016, Tanzania doubled the import tariffs on second-hand clothing from 20 cents per kilogram to 40 cents per kilogram. Rwanda took a much stiffer approach, increasing the tariff from 20 cents to $2.50 per kilogram. The clothing recycling industry in Canada and the U.S. has condemned the move, arguing that the closure of EAC markets to second-hand clothing exports has negatively affected its billion-dollar industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Secondary Materials and Recycle Textiles Association (SMART) represents small and medium-sized companies across the U.S. and Canada who are involved in using, converting and recycling pre- and post-consumer textiles. Among those members are for-profits like Value Village and brokers like Bank &amp; Vogue. These companies employ approximately 200,000 people across Canada and the US. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their concerns over the proposed ban prompted them to lobby the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Canada\u2019s senior advisor of Pan-African Trade, Philip Halliday, to intervene. Halliday\u2019s office declined to confirm SMART\u2019s statement that Canada was in negotiations with the EAC regarding the tariffs introduced on second-hand clothing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"@Debate411: Banning 2nd hand Clothes in Rwanda and EAC\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gq6J3cW_dEM?start=765&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Nathan Gashayija, former director general of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Affairs explains how the Rwandan government plans to phase-out second-hand clothes. (Credit: RTV)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Impact to Canadian and American jobs and charities<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jackie King, executive director of SMART, argues the tariffs have acted as a de facto ban and are negatively affecting her members in the private sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe did a survey of our membership and found that just under half of respondents reported having to reduce staffing by about 25 per cent or more,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s possible other factors could have contributed to the decline in staffing throughout the industry as commodity markets, especially second-hand clothes are particularly susceptible to shocks such as policy changes and product availability. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SMART says if the EAC were to follow through with a ban it could adversely affect charities, graders and brokers across the U.S. and Canada because of how interconnected the textile recycling industry is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cSome of the materials that our members collect here might go to another country first before they go to these East African countries because a lot of the sorting and grading is not done here in the U.S.,\u201d King said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThey may get shipped to Canada, so it impacts the whole chain within the textile reuse and recycling industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2016, Canada was one of the biggest importers of used clothing from the U.S., according to UN ComTrade data. However, as King points out they are often graded and then re-exported.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Value Village has reported feeling an economic hit from the EAC\u2019s penalties on used clothing imports that have forced them to re-evaluate their business model according to Tony Shumpert, vice president of recycling and reuse for Value Village.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;What we have chosen to do is focus on efficiency inside of our stores to compensate for that,&#8221; Tony Shumpert said, &#8220;figuring out how to drive merchandise in our stores that has a higher yield.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the moment, he says Value Village is still able to support charities by purchasing their used clothing donations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So far, exports of second-hand clothing from Canada and the U.S to EAC countries have already dropped by 20 per cent since tariffs were introduced.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Interactive<\/h2>\n<p><em>Click on the image for the interactive version. Scroll over the points on the graph for figures.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/create.piktochart.com\/output\/25772661-north-america-top-exports-of-worn-clothing\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-261 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/03\/north-america-t_25772661-676x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/03\/north-america-t_25772661-676x1024.png 676w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/03\/north-america-t_25772661-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/03\/north-america-t_25772661-768x1163.png 768w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/03\/north-america-t_25772661.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SMART estimates the EAC makes up about one-quarter of the global reuse market for second-hand clothes. King claims that without the East African market, her members either cease buying clothing donations from charities or it would force them to pay out less money. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In late June 2017, SMART petitioned for a review of AGOA benefits for Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda to see if the EAC\u2019s tariffs affect their eligibility. Kenya is exempt from this review because it agreed not to implement higher tariffs on second-hand clothing and denied there ever was going to be a ban after pressure from the U.S. Kenya in comparison to other EAC countries benefits the most from AGOA since they have a healthy textile industry. However, Kenya is also working on a plan to shift away from second-hand clothing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe Kenyan industry and Kenyan government believe that they could sell their products in the local market if they were not facing competition from used clothing,\u201d Ryberg said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SMART argues that the EAC\u2019s tariffs discriminate against U.S. companies who export used-clothing. However, Ryberg says this argument is flawed.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cYou could make the argument that these aren\u2019t even U.S. goods,\u201d Ryberg added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThese are mostly Chinese goods that are being re-exported to Africa.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SMART\u2019s petition gained traction with the USTR, which has temporarily suspended AGOA benefits to EAC countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda while the review is underway. USTR gave the EAC an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/agoa.info\/news\/article\/15367-east-africa-us-gives-three-countries-ultimatum-to-reverse-mitumba-ban.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ultimatum<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in February 2018 to back down on their stance on second-hand clothing or face consequences. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the threat of losing their AGOA benefits, EAC countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi that have small domestic textile manufacturing industries, continue to stand by the decision to discourage imports of second-hand clothing. However, as a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/africarenewal\/magazine\/april-2006\/loss-textile-market-costs-african-jobs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the UN Africa Renewal, points out Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are not currently reaping huge benefits under AGOA because their textile products are being undercut by goods that are more cheaply made by dominant textile-producing countries and thus duty-free access alone is not enough to give them a competitive advantage. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the EAC Heads of State Summit in Kampala, Uganda on Feb. 23, 2018 they reiterated their desire to prioritize the development of a competitive domestic textile and leather sector. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>[documentcloud url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4412488-EAC-Communique-Feb-2018\/annotations\/411194.html&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn&#8217;t remove sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":116,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-258","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities - Used clothing crisis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn&#039;t remove sanctions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities - Used clothing crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn&#039;t remove sanctions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Used clothing crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-23T04:15:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/11\/img_2016.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5184\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3456\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities - Used clothing crisis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/img_2016.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-18T00:07:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-23T04:15:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn't remove sanctions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/img_2016.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/img_2016.jpg\",\"width\":5184,\"height\":3456},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/\",\"name\":\"Used clothing crisis\",\"description\":\"By Megan McPhaden\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cusjc.ca\\\/mrp\\\/secondhand\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities - Used clothing crisis","description":"Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn't remove sanctions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities - Used clothing crisis","og_description":"Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn't remove sanctions.","og_url":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/","og_site_name":"Used clothing crisis","article_modified_time":"2018-04-23T04:15:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":5184,"height":3456,"url":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/11\/img_2016.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/","url":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/","name":"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities - Used clothing crisis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/11\/img_2016.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-18T00:07:17+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-23T04:15:37+00:00","description":"Second-hand clothing had sparked a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EAC. The EAC blames the clothes for hurting local industry, while the U.S. threatens to withdraw AGOA benefits if the EAC doesn't remove sanctions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/11\/img_2016.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/11\/img_2016.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/chapter-3-eac-sanctions-hurt-north-america\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chapter 4: EAC sanctions hurting North American recyclers, charities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/","name":"Used clothing crisis","description":"By Megan McPhaden","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/secondhand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}