WASHINGTON, DC — The National Cotton Council of America called on the Bush Administration to continue to work with cotton and textile industry organizations to find ways to reduce detrimental impacts on the U.S. and its partners in the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
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Woods Eastland, a Mississippi cooperative executive, was elected chairman of the National Cotton Council during the group’s 67th annual meeting. He succeeds Woody Anderson, a Colorado City, TX, producer. |
During its 67th annual meeting here Jan. 27-31, the association said that damage to the domestic industry and its CAFTA partners would be caused by the granting of preferential treatment to components produced in third countries.
“We believe there are opportunities to work with the administration to improve the competitive situation confronting the U.S. cotton and textile industries without a re-negotiation of the current CAFTA,” said Woody Anderson, immediate past chairman of the NCC and a Colorado City, TX, producer. “We look forward to working with the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and the administration both in developing a sound implementation plan for CAFTA and in taking other steps that will improve the competitive situation confronting the U.S. cotton textile industry.”
During the meeting, Anderson was succeeded as chairman by Woods Eastland, a Mississippi cooperative executive.
Anderson complimented the administration’s efforts to address the cotton industry’s international trade priorities with respect to trade agreements in the western hemisphere, import safeguards and multilateral trade negotiations.
“We believe it is this administration’s goal to build bridges to the U.S. textile manufacturing community and find solutions to many of its economic difficulties,” he said. “The next several weeks will be critical in this process.”
A good CAFTA is essential to preserving a viable U.S. cotton and textile industry and is expected to increase the use of U.S. cotton and its products, but exceptions to the rules-of-origin contained in the agreement continue to raise concerns that the agreement is not as beneficial as it could be, Anderson added.
The Council Chairman praised the leadership of the U.S. textile industry for its effort to work with the administration to develop creative solutions to the financial crisis facing that industry.
“Our textile leadership is innovative and determined,” Anderson said. “We will work with them to develop a broad range of trade initiatives that can be embraced by Congress and the administration.”
Industry representatives have expressed concern over the effects of the tariff preference level (TPL) and cumulation provisions of the deal.
Representatives of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office is in discussions with U.S. textile manufacturers and cotton producers on the impact of the CAFTA pact between the U.S. and five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.
The USTR is aiming to get congressional approval for legislation implementing the deal before Memorial Day, according to reports.
Officers elected
Eastland served as the NCC’s vice chairman in 2004 and succeeds Woody Anderson, a Colorado City, TX, producer.
Eastland has served as president and chief executive officer of Greenwood-based Staplcotn Cooperative Association and Staplcotn Discount Corporation since 1986. He has been a cotton, soybean and rice producer in Sunflower County since 1974.
Eastland also serves as vice president and director of AMCOT, and is a director of the Delta Council, Mississippi Chemical Corporation, and The Seam, LLC. He is past president and chairman of Cotton Council International, a past member of the New York Cotton Exchange’s Board of Managers, a past director of the Memphis Branch Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a former member of the New York Board of Trade’s Board of Governors.
A native of Doddsville, MS, Eastland holds a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University, and a J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is a licensed lay reader in the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.
Allen B. Helms Jr., a Clarkedale, AR, producer who served as NCC treasurer in 2004, will serve as NCC vice chairman.
Re-elected as NCC vice presidents were Charles Owen, a Pima, AZ, ginner; Gail Kring, a Lubbock, TX, crusher; Fred Underwood, a Lubbock, TX, warehouseman; Robert Weil II, a Montgomery, AL, merchant; and G. Stephen Felker, a Monroe, GA, textile manufacturer.
Craig Shook, a Corpus Christi, TX, producer, was elected secretary-treasurer.
Re-elected NCC staff officers were Dr. Mark Lange, NCC president and chief executive officer; Dr. Gary Adams, vice president, Economics and Policy Analysis; Craig Brown, vice president, Producer Affairs; Fred Johnson, vice president, Administration and Program Coordination; Dr. Andy Jordan, vice president, Technical Services; and Dr. Bill M. Norman, vice president, Ginner Services; all of Memphis; and John Maguire, senior vice president, Washington Operations; and Allen Terhaar, vice president, Foreign Operations; both in Washington, DC.
Elected to the National Cotton Council board of directors during interest caucuses were:
• Manufacturers — Roger W. Chastain, Greenville, SC; W. Duke Kimbrell, Gastonia, NC; Jerry D. Rowland, Winston- Salem, NC; D. Harding Stowe, Belmont, NC; Van A. May, Lubbock, TX
• Producers — Ronald C. Fleming, Scotland Neck, NC; Jon W. Hardwick, Newellton, LA; Rickey Bearden, Plains, TX; Wiley Murphy, Tucson, AZ; John E. Pucheu Jr., Tranquility, CA
• Ginners — Burges U. Griffin Jr, Lewiston, NC; William A. Guthrie, Newellton, LA; Sid Brough, Edroy, TX; Barbara L. Haralson, Safford, AZ; Larry R. McClendon, Marianna, AR
• Warehousemen — Tommy Malin, Memphis, TN; Thomas W. Stallings, Funston, GA; Shane Stephens, Greenwood, MS; Wendell L. Tucker, Quanah, TX; Robert Weatherford, Corpus Christi, TX
• Merchants — W. B. Dunavant III, Memphis, TN; Manfred Schiefer, Lubbock, TX; John D. Mitchell, Cordova,TN; Gary Taylor, Cordova, TN; G.W. Winburne, Phoenix, AZ
• Cottonseed — Austin Rose, Abilene, TX; Bobby Crum, Harlingen, TX; Robert L. Lacy Jr., Lubbock, TX; J. Gary Conkling, Oklahoma City, OK; Sammy Wright, Tifton, GA
• Cooperatives — Meredith Allen, Greenwood, MS; David L. Hand, El Paso, TX; Jarral Neeper, Bakersfield, CA; Wallace L. Darneille, Lubbock, TX; Jeffery A. Thompson, Prattville, AL
