From Washington

Over the last month, dozens of new California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) “60-day” notices have been issued alleging that brands and retailers sold in California travel bags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3, Notice 4), crossbody/messenger bags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3), totes (Notice 1, Notice 2), phone/passport cases/bags (Notice 1), wallets (Notice 1, Notice 2), backpacks (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3, Notice 4, Notice 5, Notice 6), fanny packs (Notice 1, Notice 2), cosmetic bags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3), and handbags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3, Notice 4, Notice 5, Notice 6, Notice 7, Notice 8) that contained di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) in violation of a California law known as Proposition 65 (Prop 65). The notices serve as intent to bring lawsuits against companies that made and sold these products. Check out TGA’s member-only California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Best Practices Guidance on the Prop 65 page on the TGA website. This member-only guidance details best practices in developing your company’s Prop 65 testing and warning label protocol, including recommendations on which warning label text to use, where to place the warning label text, and how to test for Prop 65 listed chemicals in your products. For more information on Prop 65, please contact TGA’s Nate Herman, nate@travel-goods.org, 301-775-7633. Read Less

On March 8, the TGA-support Coalition for GSP will hold a lobby day visiting Congressional offices in Washington, DC. We will have a full day (8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.) of Congressional meetings pushing Congress to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program ASAP, or at least provide a partial refund of duties paid in the interim. Company participation is critical! If we can’t demonstrate a strong show of broad support for GSP, it will be hard to convince Congress to pass GSP renewal this year. TGA plans to participate. But, again, we need YOU, the companies! Register here or contact TGA’s Nate Herman for more information. We have two companies registered — be the third! 

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On January 17, TGA urged the U.S. Government to end the 25% Section 301 tariffs on U.S. travel good imports from China under the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Four-Year Review of the China Section 301 Tariffs. In its comments, TGA finds that the China Section 301 tariffs have done nothing to curb China’s unfair trade policies or intellectual property rights (IPR) theft. Instead, the China Section 301 tariffs have only hurt U.S. travel goods firms and its 100,000 American workers and raised costs for hardworking American families. The most effective way to move sourcing away from China has been the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program but Congress’ failure to renew the program for over two years now has actually incentivized sourcing to start moving back to China.

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On December 9, the Senate authors of the TGA-supported Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), urged the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to make its definition of “unreasonable” stronger under the FMC’s proposed rule preventing carriers from “unreasonable” refusals to deal with shippers. In other news, while a rail strike has been averted, the paid sick leave issue is not going away with investor resolutions and Congressional letters while investigations into ongoing congestion continue. Meanwhile, on December 6, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific told government regulators that service is at or near pre-COVID levels. And many are wondering how President Biden imposing a contract on rail workers could impact the ongoing West coast port labor contract talks.

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Over the last month, dozens of new California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) “60-day” notices have been issued alleging that brands and retailers in California sold crossbody bags (Notice 1), organizer bags (Notice 1, Notice 2), phone/passport cases/bags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3, Notice 4, Notice 5), wallets (Notice 1), backpacks (Notice 1, Notice 2), luggage tags (Notice 1), and handbags (Notice 1) that contained di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Bisphenol A (BPA), Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) in violation of a California law known as Proposition 65 (Prop 65). The notices serve as intent to bring lawsuits against companies that made and sold these products. Check out TGA’s member-only California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Best Practices Guidance on the Prop 65 page on the TGA website at https://www.travel-goods.org. This member-only guidance details best practices in developing your company’s Prop 65 testing and warning label protocol, including recommendations on which warning label text to use, where to place the warning label text, and how to test for Prop 65 listed chemicals in your products. For more information on Prop 65, please contact TGA’s Nate Herman, nate@travel-goods.org, 301-775-7633.

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On December 2, President Biden signed into law TGA-supported legislation to impose a rail-labor contract and avert a rail strike. While the immediate threat of a rail strike is over, many issues remain, including continuing worker upset over the paid sick leave issues, worker shortages, and ongoing congestion.

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On November 30, TGA joined over 300 organizations, including many TGA members, in urging Congress to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. If not possible, the letter urges Congress to approve the GSP “Refund-Only” bill (H.R. 8906), which would immediately refund to TGA members the duties paid on U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries from January 1, 2021 to August 30, 2022, to provide some immediate relief to our industry as we wait for Congress to conclude its negotiations over GSP renewal. GSP provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for travel goods from developing countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, etc.). Today, GSP countries supply 20% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

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On November 28, President Biden urged Congress to stop a rail strike by immediately imposing the rail labor contract negotiated in September on railroads and rail workers. Congressional leaders have said they will vote on the contract as soon as this week (see railroad and union response). Eight of 12 rail worker unions have ratified the contract and four unions have rejected the contract. President Biden’s call came only hours after TGA and over 400 other organizations urged Congress to prevent a strike. The cooling off period preventing any work action (i.e., strike, work slowdown, or lockout) ends at midnight on December 8, which means a work action could start at 12:01 AM on December 9. Due to preparations for a strike, railroads will stop carrying certain items (perishable produce, gas, hazardous chemicals, etc.) as early as December 4 so they don’t get stranded during a strike. The American Chemistry Council found that a rail strike could devastate the U.S. economy, with 700,000 jobs lost, a 4% increase in inflation, and a possible recession. Approximately 30% of our industry’s product moves by rail. Urge your friends, staff, co-workers, family to send letters to Congress to prevent a rail strike. It only takes a minute!

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On November 21, one of the two biggest rail unions, the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), rejected the tentative rail labor contract. To date, 8 of 12 rail unions have ratified the contract and four unions have rejected the contract. The cooling off period for the unions who rejected the contract ends December 8, which means a rail strike or lockout could occur as early as December 9. Meanwhile, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) found that a rail strike could devastate the U.S. economy, with 700,000 jobs lost, a 4% increase in inflation, and a possible recession. Approximately 25% of our industry’s product moves by rail. TGA continues to urge Congress to step in to prevent a strike. Please urge your friends, staff, co-workers, and family to send letters to Congress to prevent a rail strike. It only takes a minute.

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On October 27, TGA joined over 300 business organizations in urging President Biden to prevent a rail strike. On October 26, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen voted 61% to 39% to become the second rail union to reject the rail contract. To date, 6 of the 12 rail unions have ratified the contract, with four more unions, include the two largest, scheduled to vote on the contract by mid-November.

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