What You Should Know About The Americas Act
(July, 2024) The Americas Trade and Investment Act (Americas Act) is a piece of legislation introduced by federal lawmakers in March 2024 which includes more than $14 billion in federal incentives for circular innovation in the fashion and textile recycling sectors.
The bipartisan legislation, which was introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Michael Bennet of Colorado and Reps. Maria Salazar of Florida and Adriano Espaillat of New York, has been designed to create an expanding and permanent partnership of countries in the Western Hemisphere to counter China’s influence over global manufacturing and geopolitics.
Key provisions of the Americas Act related to textile recycling and reuse include:
- the creation of textile reuse and recycling grants/loans, with $3 billion in grants, $10 billion in loans, $1 billion for innovation research and development (R&D) and $100 million for a public education campaign against fast fashion; and
- a 15 percent net income exclusion for qualified textile reuse and recycling activities.
The bill aims to boost domestic circularity and innovation for textiles while also addressing issues such as reshoring, onshoring and the threat of forced labor in supply chains. Read the full act here.
