On December 8th, Gap Inc. joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol and Textile Exchange’s 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge as part of its integrated sustainability strategy and to help it achieve its commitment to use only 100% sustainably-sources cotton by 2025.
Category: News
News from the American Cotton Shippers Association
Support for Granting Priority Vaccine to Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers
On December 1st, agricultural associations, including the National Cotton Council, sent letters to President Trump, President-elect Joe Biden, and the National Governors Association to reiterate their support for granting priority vaccine access to essential critical infrastructure workers. See the letters below.
Biden Transition COVID-19 Vaccine Letter here.
National Governors Association COVID-19 Vaccine Letter here.
Trump Administration COVID-19 Letter here.
Current WROs and Entity List Designations for China’s Xinjiang Region
ACSA Co-Signs Letter to Congressional Leadership Regarding PPP
On December 3rd, ACSA along with 563 other national and regional/state affiliates signed a letter to Congressional Leaders urging them to enact legislation before the end of the year that includes a technical correction addressing the tax treatment of loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). See letter below.
Temperature and Precipitation Information
On November 29th, NOAA reported the outlook for the temperature and precipitation probabilities for December 7th – December 13th. The maps are shown below. NOAA predicts temperatures to be below normal in the Southeastern part of the country but normal or above normal in cotton states such as Texas and California. In addition, NOAA forecasts precipitation across all cotton states to be less than normal.
ACSA Supports the Yazoo Backwater Project
This week, ACSA commented in support of the Yazoo Backwater Project, which would address flood control in South Mississippi. ACSA particularly endorsed the supportive comments offered by the Mississippi Levee Board and the persistent advocacy provide for this project by the Delta Council.
Biden-Harris Transition Teams
This week, Biden named the volunteers who will serve on the transition teams. Please see the link below for a list of the individuals.
Expected Leadership for the 117th Congress
Please see the link below for details regarding the expected leadership positions for the 117th Congress.
H.R. 6210 – Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
USDA & USTR Say China Has Met 71% of 2020 Phase One Ag Purchase Target
On October 23rd, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an Interim Report on the Economic and Trade Agreement between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China. The report states, “Using the best methodology, we have calculated that China has purchased approximately 71 percent of its target for 2020. They have purchased $23.6 billion in agricultural products so far this year. This is substantially more than the base year of 2017, and should end up being our best year ever in sales to China. It is still to be seen whether they meet their target but particularly given the COVID-19 effects on the global economy they are making substantial progress. It is worth noting that the Phase One Agreement did not go into effect until February 14, 2020, and March is the first full month of its effect. That means that we have seen seven months of agreement sales.” See full report below.
