The Jordan Textile, Garment and Accessories Exporters Association (JGATE) recently announced that Jordan’s garment exports to the United States in 2008 were US$948 million, a decrease of 16 percentage points from US$1.139 billion in 2007. Affected by factors such as the sharp rise in operating costs and the sharp shrinkage of the U.S. market, a total of eight garment companies in Jordan have successively closed factories and divested investment. Some garment companies are moving production lines to Egypt, Bangladesh, etc. to take advantage of their lower operating and labor costs. At present, Egypt can enjoy the US Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) policy, and it is more favorable to investors in terms of entry, work permits, temporary residence fees, etc. In particular, its salary level is much lower than that of Jordan, and it has become the leader of Jordan’s garment industry. main competitor.
JGATE believes that starting from 2010, Jordanian industrial exports will directly benefit from the US-Jordan FTA agreement signed in 2000. According to the agreement, starting from January 2010, all bilateral trade tariffs and non-tariff barriers on industrial and agricultural products will be eliminated, and bilateral trade will be freer. Currently, only products produced by companies in Jordan’s QIZ can be exported to the United States without tariffs.
According to figures from the Jordanian Ministry of Labor and JGATE, there are currently about 46,000 workers in Jordan’s QIZ, of which 11,600 are Jordanian workers, accounting for only about 1/4. Most Jordanians are unwilling to work in garment companies due to low wages and boring work on garment production lines.
