From WWD:
The belt factory in Guatemala operates under CAFTA with no duties imposed for products imported into the U.S.
By Jean E. Palmieri on March 14, 2019
Tata Accessories Globales, the world’s largest men’s and women’s belt factory and an affiliate of Randa Accessories, is expanding its facility by nearly one-third and beefing up its workforce. The move is intended to “meet the growing demand for accessories’ top-performing category,” the company said.
As part of the expansion, Tata has invested in new state-of-the-art equipment and technologies to improve the quality of the product, speed up production and reduce costs.
“Due to our success over the last few years, we are increasing our facility footprint by 30 percent, nearly doubling our workforce, and exploding our annual production capacity to 18 million belts,” said Rodrigo Toledo, president of Tata. The company will now employ more than 1,000 people.
Because of its location in Guatemala, Tata also provides an option for North American brands and retailers seeking the benefits of nearshoring. Manufacturing in that country takes advantage of the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which does not levy duty or tariffs on products imported into the U.S. It also cuts shipping time to one week from the four or more required to import product from Asia.
“Tata provides our retail and brand partners with a competitive advantage,” said Judy Person, executive vice president and group president of Randa Accessories.
“Belts mean money,” added Meredith Travers, senior vice president of Randa Accessories’ belt division. “Belts are a high turn, high margin, small footprint classification. In only one square foot of selling space, a store can present belts in many size, color combinations. Tata is the fastest, highest-quality supplier of belts in the world.”