Save Act to piggyback on US trade pacts

The Save Our Industries Act (Save Act), a pending bill in the United States Congress that is expected to breathe new life to the Philippine garments industry, is seen gaining more steam, following the submission for ratification of key trade pacts in the US Congress last Monday.

Garments and Textile Industry Development executive director Thelma Dumpit-Murillo said the Save Act needed to piggyback on some trade-related pieces of legislation for it to be tackled in the US Congress.

As this was the case, she said the submission for ratification of the US trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea was a welcome development.

“This is the window that we have been waiting for. The Save Act cannot be tackled alone, but rather it has to ride on the momentum of a trade agenda. This is definitely Divine Providence as this development was not present in the last three years,” she said in a statement.

She said that in November last year, government and industry stakeholders were hoping that a trade agenda would be taken up in the lameduck session. This, however, did not happen.

Just last Monday, President Barack Obama submitted for ratification the long-stalled trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea, with final ratification expected within the month.

“This definitely brings us much closer to our objective. We hope that the good tidings this brings will extend to our own Save Act, which is a win-win for both Philippine garments manufacturers and US textile companies,” Dumpit-Murillo said.

The Save Act is expected to provide enough incentives for local garments exporters to expand their operations.