“Today, there is no domestic outerwear industry.” — Senator Ron Wyden, March 31 2011

The Outdoor Act — S. 704 in the Senate and H.R. 2071 in the House — would remove tariffs on outerwear imported into the USA from overseas sweatshop factories. Ron Wyden, the principal sponsor of the Outdoor Act in the Senate, gave a speech on the floor of the Senate in the Spring of 2011 in which he praised foreign sweatshop-made outerwear as “superior products. Today, there is no domestic outerwear industry…”. Is it more of an insult to declare that made-in-the-USA outdoors clothing is rotten, or that it doesn’t exist at all? Tell that to Nunatuk; they make ultralight down jackets, snow pants and balaclavas for tough winter conditions right here in the USA. Tell that to Blue Ice Clothing, which makes Cyclone Jackets and fleece vests in the USA. Tell that to Sickafus Jackets, to Union Line, to ASW Jackets, to King Louie America, to ExtremeGard, all of whom make outerwear in the USA — and there are many more USA outerwear manufacturers. Senator Ron Wyden says they don’t exist.

The Outdoor Act itself makes a slightly less ridiculous claim than Senator Wyden in its text:

In July 2007, the United States International Trade Commission confirmed in USITC Publication 3937 that recreational performance apparel produced in the United States makes up less than 1 percent of the total recreational performance apparel market and therefore concluded that there is no commercially viable production of recreational performance apparel in the United States.

But there is no such confirmation in USITC Publication 3937 (which you can read for yourself here). Indeed, there is no such figure in USITC Publication 3937, either confirmed or unconfirmed. The closest that the publication comes to such a claim is this:

In written statements to the Commission, associations representing the outdoor industry and outerwear apparel manufacturers contend that there is no commercially viable domestic production of performance outerwear jackets or pants…

The report indicates that 24 million square feet worth of outerwear was produced and shipped domestically in 2006 — a substantial amount of industry.

The associations referred to in the USITC report are the Outdoor Industry Association, the American Apparel & Footwear Association and SnowSports Industries America. The leadership of these three associations is dominated by producers who make outerwear overseas, which makes them, as USITC Publication 3937 acknowledges, “Interested Parties.”

The top industry source of contributions to Senator Ron Wyden since 2005 has been the Nike corporation, which is gearing up its outwear collection.

Ron Wyden is not alone. The following are the other 10 members of Congress who have decided to undercut the very real American-made outerwear industry and throw their support behind the Outdoor Act:

Sen. Maria Cantwell (Democrat-WA)
Sen. Mike Crapo (Republican-ID)
Sen. Michael Enzi (Republican-WY)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Democrat-OR)
Sen. Charles Schumer (Democrat-NY)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Democrat-OR, District 3)
Rep. Jim Matheson (Democrat-UT, District 2)
Rep. Jared Polis (Democrat-CO, District 2)
Rep. Dave Reichert (Republican-WA, District 8 )
Rep. Greg Walden (Republican-OR, District 2)