The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that imports of eligible textile and apparel articles from the Republic of Liberia qualify for African Growth and Opportunity Act duty-free treatment, effective February 7, 2011.

The International Trade Commission has issued a notice announcing its schedule in connection with the preparation of its second annual report in the investigation to evaluate the effectiveness of the Dominican Republic "2 for 1" Earned Import Allowance Program.

China announced that in mid-January, a local branch of the municipal industry and commerce administration in Hangzhou, together with Louis Vuitton Malletier (LV), will launch a preliminary probe into counterfeiting on LV products in preparation for China's first campaign against intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements for 2011.

According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel, the Italian Government has recalled its recently proposed requirements regarding the sale of textile products, leather goods and footwear, including use of the “Made in Italy” designation.

Broker Power is making its lists of 2011 "General" Column 1 duty rates for knit and crocheted (knit) and woven apparel in Chapters 61 and 62 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule available as a "single package" in PDF, “tabbed”, format.

To take action on global water usage, the Levi's brand has launched a line of stonewashed water-less jeans. Manufacturing of these jeans reduces water usage by an average of 28% per pair and up to 96% for some styles. An average pair of Levi's jeans needs 42 liters of water to be dyed, washed, and finished and 21 liters of water is used every time they are washed by consumers.

This summary report highlights the most active textile and apparel tariff preference levels from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Quota Weekly Commodity Status Report,” which includes the textile and apparel TPLs that were the most “active” in their prior control period, i.e., they were more than 40% filled at the end of their period. Coverage will expand to other TPLs if their activity is significant in the current control period. The data listed below is current as of January 18, 2011.

The Office of Textiles and Apparel has posted to its website monthly reports containing official November 2010 trade data from the Census Department for U.S. imports and exports of textiles and apparel.

The Office of Textiles and Apparel has posted frequently asked questions on trade preferences for Haitian textile and apparel in an effort to provide information and guidance to parties exploring use of trade preferences available for imports of textile and apparel goods from Haiti.The FAQs cover trade preferences for Haitian textiles and apparel under the Caribbean Trade Promotion Act (CBTPA), the Haiti Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity for Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 (HOPE), the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2008 (HOPE II), and the Haitian Economic Lift Program (HELP).

Broker Power has listed the 2011 "General" Column 1 rates of duty for certain knit apparel that is 70% or more by weight silk or silk waste and is subject to a silk category number (7XX). (The “Special” Column 1 rates of duty (e.g. under the NAFTA or DR-CAFTA, etc.) are not included.)