Textile Makers Fight to Be Heard on South Korea Trade Pact

There are still a few textile mills in the Carolina Piedmont, making futuristic fabrics that cover soldiers' helmets and the roofs of commercial buildings.

There is also a new threat on the horizon. A proposed free trade agreement with South Korea, which the House and Senate are scheduled to consider this week, would open the American market to a manufacturing powerhouse that has its own high-technology textile industry.

The South Korea deal, and companion pacts with Colombia and Panama, are sailing toward approval.