April 4, 2018
					Claude Simon	
					71 Tonjes Road
					Callicoon, NY  12723



Dear Mr. President:

Sometimes a small idea can yield incredible results.

There exists a database under the authority of the Federal Trade Commision called the RN database.  Its function is to maintain a public list of U.S. clothing importers, marketers and manufacturers and assign RN numbers to them.  The numbers appear on garment labels such that one might look the number up on the FTC website and find out the party responsible for placing the garment in the stream of commerce.

Here is the link for the database:

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/selected-industries/registered-identification-number-frequently-asked

The database has existed for many years. Prior to the computer age, RN numbers were published and available in volumes of printed books.  As a textile firm, we  were able to locate a garment in a store which contained our fabric, look up the manufacturer in the books using the RN number and offer our products to them. That's how I know about it.

At some point in the 1980's, something changed. Somehow, the RN number came to identify the marketer or importer of the product rather than the manufacturer.  For us, the result was a dead end because the importer did not need our product and the marketer had nothing to do with purchasing textile raw materials. 

Underlying the issue of so called  'Free Trade' is global competitiveness.  In many areas, a free and progressive society, such as ours, has significantly higher costs of manufacturing.   Child labor prohibitions, minimum wage, unemployment insurance, OSHA requirements and EPA requirements, to name a few, increase the cost of manufacturing, reducing our ability to compete globally.   If we were able to turn the clock back on these costs to 1900, clearly we could compete. But certainly no one wants to return to those brutal conditions.

Yet we think nothing of importing products from countries and societies that have no such requirements of human dignity by allowing U.S. companies to do a complete end run around every advance in American progressive civilization since 1900.   It is called 'Free Trade' and it is an economic endorsement of brutality over humanity.

The RN database can help inform the public and the media about the countries and conditions under which garments are manufactured. 

I am suggesting simple changes within the authority of the Executive Branch to the RN filing requirements:

1. Require all companies to register and identify garments with their RN number and,

2. Require the RN number to identify the MANUFACTURER of the garment, NOT THE IMPORTER or MARKETER and,

If this idea works as intended, the media and public watchdogs will do the rest.

Thank you for your time.



Sincerely,




Claude Simon