Growing Demand for ‘Made in U.S.A.’ Apparel and Textiles
Decline of U.S. Apparel Manufacturing
By 2007, 95% of apparel bought in the U.S. is imported from abroad. It’s primarily a combination of political, economical, and social factors with lower prices as a major driving force. Apparel manufacturing rose shortly after World War II when retailers met the demand from an increasingly affluent American population with the same mass production processes used to make military uniforms for the war.
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When Japan and Asian countries came into the picture offering a competitive advantage of cheap labor on mass-produced apparel, the industry started to decline. By the 50s and the 60s, mass retailers were highly dependent on Asian labor to produce clothing designed in the U.S. By the mid-1980s, bulk of American apparel production has been moved overseas.
An economic downturn in the 70s, the emergence of branded labels that sourced from foreign contractors, and a demand for synthetic fibers readily available from Asia eventually led to the almost complete disappearance of clothes Made in U.S.A. In 2005, apparel imports from China rose to almost 100% after import restrictions on textiles and apparel expired in 2004.
Stamping the ‘Made in USA’ Quality
Despite the market’s heavy reliance on mass-produced clothes, there have been calls to improve quality and to bring back manufacturing in our own backyard. The textile and apparel sector is also at the forefront of the current administration’s National Export Initiative aimed at doubling U.S. exports by 2014. At present, the industry directly supports 400,000 jobs and the ‘Made in America’ initiative is designed to promote even more.
In August, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the first ever ‘Made in L.A.’ Pavilion at the Sourcing at MAGIC tradeshow, held in Las Vegas in the same month. The announcement came alongside a string of initiatives aimed at promoting L.A. as a major garment and apparel center in the global market; one of which was a city-wide ‘Made in L.A.’ logo design contest.
The Sourcing in the Americas Pavilion was also featured for the second time at the largest apparel sourcing tradeshow in North America. ‘Made in the Americas’ was the central theme of key discussions of the Sourcing at MAGIC’s lineup of seminars.
“Building on the huge success we had last year, we felt it critical to return with another Americas Pavilion and Summit to highlight Made in America products. As the largest textile and apparel event of its kind, this forum provides American businesses with a unique opportunity to highlight Made in America products to a global audience,” Commerce Under-Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sánchez announced then.
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In the upcoming edition of Sourcing at MAGIC to be held in February next year, the ‘Made in L.A.’ Pavilion will yet again be highlighted. It will capitalize on a bigger-than-ever demand for Made in U.S.A. products and offer countless opportunities for local manufacturers to promote the quality of homemade garments and to come face to face with thousands of attendees, major retailers, and top design companies in L.A.
Currently, the Department of Commerce is also working with Los Angeles in developing an online registry that will make it easier to look for apparel, textile, and footwear manufacturers in the U.S. While sourcing from abroad is not likely to end anytime soon, this and all other government initiatives will hopefully be the start of an increased global awareness and recognition of American competitiveness in the clothing and apparel sector.
In light of a recent study which showed that three in four Americans believe that buying local is important – even if it costs a bit more – it could certainly be said that America is on the right track.
Great article. The last MAGIC show was in Las Vegas in September, 2011 and it was a huge success. I have just some minor corrections on the history of garment manufacturing. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, probably 85% of clothing was Made in the USA, some was made in Japan. In the 1970’s there was a little more outsourcing, however, this was slowed by the passage of the 1974 Multifiber Agreement which imposed strict quotas on clothing. In the 1980’s, a lot of Northeastern garment factories moved their facilities to the Southern United States for cheaper labor and lack of unions. It was the 1990s that caused the explosion of outsourcing. Several reasons, better travel and communication, but also the passage of NAFTA (1994) and The World Trade Organization Agreement as part of the Uruguay Round Agreements – which mandated the phase out of imports from the Multifiber Agreement of 1974, with full phase out (meaning no quotas at all) by 2004. In the late 1990s, we saw many garment companies going overseas and once 2004 hit, there was little resistance of the remaining US garment factories – they closed down or moved to China or Bangladesh.
One last point, for clothing, the amount of imports is about 98%, not 95% (95% is for all manufactured goods). There is good news. The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) declared that domestic apparel manufacturing grew by 11.1% in 2011 (it is the first time in history that it has ever increased) and it has brought the import penetration in the U.S. apparel market below 98%. Keep up the good work. -Jack A
Thank you for your insightful response.
I’m a “starving” domestic manufacturer.Please keep me posted
Hi Steve, we are looking at starting a new made in the USA only clothing company, what do you manufacture?
Amber, can you provide more details about your new company? I’m interested.
As an individual and more importantly a US citizen, I’m so feed up w/ the difficulty of finding anything from clothing to linens made in USA and the poor quality. Would love to know the companies that are Made in the USA. ( to include products from A – Z) This would be past on as I’m not the only one who feels this way. I also feel that this is so very important in helping to build our economy.
Nice post. We friends have started a small business in US, its going well. Thanks to PSD Global for giving us important suggestion and business tricks on International trade for our agencies and much more.