It is also critical for the long-term health of the US apparel industry. Hurricane Reconstruction AAMA has long supported enactment of CBI trade enhancement legislation. Sadly, the need for this legislation has been reinforced by two hurricanes that visited severe devastation upon areas of Central America and the Caribbean. Short-term relief is important in helping these countries weather the immediate crisis. US support for long term reconstruction, however, will be necessary to sustain economic growth in the region.
Regional leaders agree.
In a November 9 letter to President Clinton, the five Central American Presidents asked for Caribbean Basin trade enhancement legislation as an element of the reconstruction effort for Central America. Since then, and as most recently as two weeks during the President's trip to Central America, these leaders had made repeated calls for CBI trade enhancement. It would expand US market opportunities for apparel and other products assembled in Central America and the Caribbean. And because most of that apparel is manufactured using US textiles and related inputs, American workers and their firms would benefit as well. Before the hurricanes struck, the apparel sector was already emerging as an engine of economic growth.