SENATOR COLLINS EXPRESSES CONCERN FOR MAINE FOOTWEAR MANUFACTURER

Washington, DC-Senator Susan Collins submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce expressing concern that the cancellation of the Current Industrial Report (CIR) for the U.S. footwear industry will leave our domestic footwear companies without a vital source of production data. The New Balance footwear manufacturing company of Maine is currently one of the few U.S. companies that have made a commitment to produce shoes on U.S. soil. Companies such as New Balance need the data provided by Census CIR for footwear to operate in the global economy.

"Census CIR for the U.S. footwear industry is a critical resource for domestic footwear companies," said Senator Susan Collins. "Considering the many market pressures to relocate manufacturing operations overseas, we must continue to provide companies such as New Balance the data needed to operate in the global economy."

The footwear CIR is currently the only source of data that tracks and breaks down the actual number of shoes produced in the United States. The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) uses the data from footwear CIR to create a source of information reporting the economic status of the U.S. footwear industry. Census CIR for footwear is routinely used by a number of U.S. government agencies to represent the interests of the U.S. footwear industry on international trade negotiations, as well as in congressionally-mandated studies and other reports on international trade issues.

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