New trade official to visit Maine New Balance plant
photo/amber waterman
Patrick Welch, plant manager of New Balance's Skowhegan facility, says the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement would hurt the company's domestic manufacturing.
U.S. Sen. Angus King says the new appointee for the nation's top trade official spot has agreed to visit a New Balance factory in Maine as international negotiations continue over tariffs company officials say could undermine its stateside shoe production.
King said in a press release that Michael Froman, the nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, agreed to visit a production facility in Maine in the next few weeks.
The Portland Press Herald reported that King had placed a hold on Froman's nomination while asking him to agree to a Maine visit.
Froman's nomination is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week.
The visit would follow one by former trade ambassador Ron Kirk, who made a trip to New Balance's Norridgewock plant in September 2012.
Company officials are battling against the elimination of tariffs on footwear made in Vietnam, the second-largest importer of footwear to the U.S. after China. The company says manufacturing its shoes in the U.S. would be more difficult if the Trans-Pacific Partnership passes without those tariffs.
King did not announced a specific date for Froman's intended visit. New Balance has plants in Skowhegan and Norridgewock that, together, employ around 900 people.
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