AAFA Leads U.S. Business Community Urging U.S State Department to Immediately Restore, and Continue, U.S. Funding for, and U.S. Participation In, the ILO
September 3, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) today delivered a U.S. business community letter with 10 signatories to United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the Trump administration to put America first by restoring, and continuing, U.S. funding for, and U.S. participation in, the International Labor Organization (ILO).
As stated in the letter, "The ILO builds institutions in countries around the world so that they can effectively implement and enforce internationally recognized labor standards, standards the U.S. created and upholds in its own laws. Further, the ILO’s core international labor standards focus heavily on combatting forced labor, which is an administration priority as demonstrated by the recent Section 301 actions on forced labor and the Trump administration’s vigorous enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and the U.S. Forced Labor Statute (Section 1307)."
The ILO maintains staff and offices in dozens of key countries that provide real time intelligence, contacts, and solutions to promote and protect internationally recognized labor standards. The apparel and footwear industries, and indeed, the entire U.S. business community, rely on the essential work of ILO, whose purpose is to work globally to ensure a level playing field for all workers, including American workers.
"A U.S. withdrawal from the ILO [...] would cede control of and the leadership at the ILO to other countries who do not share American values and who, instead, want to use the ILO to tilt the playing field against American businesses and American workers, deemphasizing the ILO’s focus on combatting forced labor and undermining the U.S.-built ILO core international labor standards," said AAFA Executive Vice President Nate Herman.
Today's letter builds off of AAFA's continued support of the ILO including a letter urging Pakistan to Support ILO Better Work earlier in 2026, as well as a 2025 letter urging President Trump to restore and continue funding for ILO.