In enclosed, isolated environments, microbes can pose a major health hazard. Think, for example, what could happen with bacterial growth aboard the International Space Station.

The folks at NASA thought a lot about it. And we’re now working with them on special items – clothes, sheets and towels – made from our SILVERion™ antimicrobial fabrics.

To train for the challenges of life aboard the Space Station, astronauts spend time in a confined environment at NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations. The underwater lab, owned by NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), is situated deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

It’s an environment that is moist, enclosed, and isolated – an environment in which bacteria, mold and mildew can thrive and quickly become a problem.

NAFTA, etc...

Veterans of the textile trade here blame most of their woes on cheap labor overseas.

Many in the business say that textiles had begun to wane before the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect Jan. 1, 1999. They also say that China's admittance into the World Trade Organization in 2001 has caused more damage in North Carolina.

"I didn't lose my job because of NAFTA. I left my job because of NAFTA, among other reasons," said Gil Respess, a former employee of Domestic Manufacturing in Kinston. "The industry had taken a turn for the worst. I just kind of got tired of twiddling my thumbs."

Respess, who worked in the textile business for about 12 years, now teaches. His former employer, Domestic, is one of the few remaining textile producers in Eastern North Carolina.

To stay alive, Domestic's owner, Fred Hunneke, chose the only option many in the industry see available: re-invention. Domestic manufactures specialty fabrics for niche markets to give the company an edge over foreign competition.

"People say, 'If you go to Mexico, you can make it for less,' " Hunneke said. "Well, I'm not in that business. Wouldn't it be nice to create a few jobs locally so we can keep the textile business alive? There are people like that."

Over at Invista - formerly the giant local employer, DuPont - manager Robert Amos says NAFTA has been "neutral to slightly negative on this plant." Only one of the company's competitors has moved to Mexico since NAFTA's inception, Amos said. About 20 have moved to China or elsewhere in Asia.

"Stuff that's made in Mexico is not what's being sold at Wal-Mart," Amos said. "It's coming out of China. The perception is out there that if we hadn't had NAFTA, all these textiles companies would be doing wonderfully. I'm not one who shares that view.

"It's a direct frontal attack from Asia," Amos said. "They can pay $100 a month for what the textile manufacturer here is paying $50 to $100 a day."

Other factors giving China an edge include lack of labor and environmental laws and the absence of a social security system, said Bruce Parson, Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce president.

Buy American Act

The Buy American Act (BAA - 41 U.S.C. § 10a–10d) was passed in 1933 by the U.S Congress, which required the United States government to prefer U.S.-made products in its purchases. Other pieces of Federal legislation extend similar requirement to third-party purchases that utilize Federal funds, such as highway and transit programs.

In certain government procurements, the requirement purchase may be waived if purchasing the material domestically would burden the government with an unreasonable cost (the price differential between the domestic product and an identical foreign-sourced product exceeds a certain percentage of the price offered by the foreign supplier), if the product is not available domestically in sufficient quantity or quality, or if doing so is in the public interest.

The President has the authority to waive the Buy American Act within the terms of a reciprocal agreement or otherwise in response to the provision of reciprocal treatment to U.S. producers. Under the 1979 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Government Procurement Code, the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) 1996 Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), the United States provides access to the government procurement of certain U.S. agencies for goods from the other parties to those agreements. However, the Buy American Act was excluded from the GPA's coverage.