USA-ITA West Coast Seminar: The 2012 Outlook (and Beyond!) for Apparel Importers

  Registration is closed for this event
Join USA-ITA at our annual West Coast Seminar on Thursday, February 16th, in San Francisco, California. We will continue to update this page as we confirm details.

Our agenda for the day includes:

  • Trade Policy in 2012: An Overview, featuring Jon Fee, Partner at Alston & Bird LLP, Julia K. Hughes, President of USA-ITA, and David Spooner, USA-ITA Washington Counsel with Squire Sanders & Dempsey

  • Customs Keynote, featuring Richard DiNucci, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs & Border Protection

  • A Conversation on Customs, featuring John Pellegrini, USA-ITA Customs Counsel with McGuireWoods LLP and Julie Engelbertson, Supervisory Import Specialist, Port of San Francisco

  • A Conversation with the Obama Administration, featuring Gail Strickler, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles 

  • The Korea FTA: What Now? featuring Jon Fee, Partner at Alston & Bird LLP, and Won Sok Yun, Director General & Chief Trade Commissioner at the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Los Angeles

  • A Conversation with Cotton, featuring Elizabeth King, Vice President of Importer Relations at The Cotton Board, and Mark Messura, Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain Marketing at Cotton Incorporated

  • Business Case for Sustainability: Differentiate by Implementing Sustainable Design, featuring Brian Whitters, DVP Sustainability at SGS

  • A Conversation on TPP: The Importer's Perspective, featuring Helga Ying, Senior Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Levi Strauss & Co.

  • Wrap Up: How Retailers & Brands Can Affect Policy, featuring Julia K. Hughes, President of USA-ITA; John Pellegrini, USA-ITA Customs Counsel; and David Spooner, USA-ITA Washington Counsel

This event is approved for 6 CCS credits via NCBFAA. To be eligible for the credits, please give us your NCBFAA number when you register for the event.

When
February 16th, 2012 from  9:00 AM to  4:30 PM
Location
Levi Strauss & Company
1155 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Contact
Phone: 202-419-0444
Email:
Event Fee(s)
EARLY BIRD USA-ITA Member Fee $200.00
EARLY BIRD Non-Member Fee $275.00
EARLY BIRD 2 or More USA-ITA Members Fee (Per Person) $175.00
EARLY BIRD 2 or More Non-Member Fee (Per Person) $250.00

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2026 USFIA Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study

The 2026 USFIA Fashion Industry Benchmarking study is now available to the public! Key findings from the report include:

  • The top business challenges facing U.S. fashion companies continue to center on the Trump Administration’s tariff policies, though concerns over inflation and increasing costs have also risen since 2025. 
  • 92% of respondents rated “Protectionist U.S. trade policies and related policy uncertainty, including the impact of the Trump tariffs” as one of their top two business challenges in 2026.
  • Among business concerns, managing forced-labor risks emerged as a significantly higher priority, rising from tenth place in 2025 to sixth place in 2026 and illustrating the industry's commitment to eradicating forced labor from their supply chains.
  • The job market is a bright spot. About 87% of companies plan to increase hiring over the next five years, up from last year and tying the highest level since the pandemic. Demand is expected to be strongest for data scientists, trade compliance specialists, and environmental sustainability specialists
  • AI is becoming increasingly integrated into apparel sourcing and business operations. 56% utilize AI for "demand forecasting and inventory planning," while 50% use it for "sustainability tracking," "risk management" and “sourcing strategy and cost optimization.”

Download the 2026 study here.

If you're interested in sharing your company's perspective for our 2027 study, fill out the interest form.

 Benchmarking 2026 top business challenges

Higher tariffs continue to trigger ripple effects across supply chains.

Figure 1-3 U.S. fashion companies reported deepened economic impacts of tariff hikes and policy uncertainties on their sourcing and business operations

Figure 1-4 U.S. fashion companies explored various methods to mitigate the evolving impacts of tariff hikes and policy uncertainties

 

Trends to watch: 

AI use could become increasingly prevalent in apparel sourcing as companies seek new technologies to improve operational efficiency and navigate a more complex, uncertain sourcing environment.Figure 2-24 AI is increasingly integrated into apparel sourcing and business operations

 

2026 Sourcing Trends & Outlook

USFIA's 2026 Sourcing Trends & Outlook is out with data from the full year of 2025. Members can log-in to the website to download it here. 

This is the thirteenth USFIA Sourcing Trends & Outlook Report, our annual look at the sourcing landscape for the fashion industry. 2025 will be remembered as the year of the Trump tariffs. U.S. imports fell as brands and retailers had to navigate a new level of uncertainty for sourcing and for costs. The reciprocal tariffs affected all countries, except for USMCA-qualifying production from Canada and Mexico.

As we look ahead to 2026, there still is a lot of uncertainty. The reciprocal tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court, but the Trump Administration still is committed to impose tariffs above the MFN rates. The global tariffs imposed under Section 122 expire on July 24th and Administration officials say they will use other trade laws such as Section 301 and Section 232 to authorize more tariffs.

Even with the tariff disruptions, some of the major sourcing trends remain the same as in recent years. Asian suppliers continue to dominate apparel sourcing. The top seven apparel suppliers are China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, and they ship 78% of apparel imports.

The top 5 sourcing trends in the report are:

  1. Asian apparel suppliers continue to dominate sourcing.
  2. China maintains its role as the top apparel supplier by quantity, and Vietnam is the top supplier by value.
  3. Average unit values for textiles and apparel imports had only modest increases.
  4. Some of the fastest growth in 2025 comes from major apparel suppliers.
  5. Despite tariff disruptions, FTAs and preference programs remain underutilized. CAFTA remains the major duty-free supplier.

 

While U.S. apparel imports decreased from many suppliers, there still are some clear winners from the tariff disruptions. Five of the top ten suppliers had double digit increases. Some of the fastest-growing suppliers are Asian-based apparel industries that took market share from China.

sourcing2026 fastest growing apparel suppliers

 

sourcing2026 applied tariff rates

Chart courtesy of Dr. Sheng Lu, Professor in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware.

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