Fashion made possible by global trade
Fashion made possible by global trade
Fashion made possible by global trade
Reports&Analysis
-
PPI’s First Trade Fact of 2024 Illustrates Positives of Supply Chain Efficiency on Consumer Pricing
Ed Gresser, PPI’s Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets, began 2024 looking at the intersection of the upcoming Presidential election and trade in PPI’s Trade Fact of the Week: The price of a 40-inch TV set has fallen by 99% in 25 years.
One of the policy proposals of the 2024 Presidential Campaign is former President Trump’s proposal to enact an additional 10% annual tariff on imports. Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer defended this proposal to the New York Times, saying:
“If all you chase is efficiency — if you think the person is better off on the unemployment line with a third 40-inch television than he is working with only two — then you’re not going to agree with me,” Mr. Lighthizer said. “There’s a group of people who think that consumption is the end. And my view is production is the end, and safe and happy communities are the end. You should be willing to pay a price for that.”
Gresser deftly takes apart this argument by looking at the history of the 40-inch plasma TV. He points out that efficiency in the supply chain has cut the cost of a 40-inch plasma TV from $22,900 in 1970 to less than $400 a few decades later. A 10% tariff on that TV would “set [consumers] back about $20 (or $60 if they wanted to buy three). Over the entire TV-making and -selling world, this would likely put some retail clerks out of their jobs, but likewise wouldn’t affect production.”
Gresser also looks at how President Trump would have the authority to impose new tariff system.
“Constitutionally, only Congress has the right to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” Asked by the Times’ political team about how a President could create an entirely new tariff system by himself, the Ambassador cites some existing trade laws that might enable a President to declare a “national emergency” and impose it by decree.”
-
Rand Research Releases Report on Forced Labor Enforcement
Earlier this month, Rand released the Forced Labor in Global Supply Chains: Trade Enforcement Impacts and Opportunities report. The research was led by the RAND Homeland Security Research Division, which operates the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC). The project was funded by the Department of Homeland Security and was “designed to assist DHS in developing analytical capabilities for assessing the impact of its efforts to combat forced labor through trade enforcement and evaluating that impact. The report discusses the methods that we used to evaluate DHS’s impact and presents the result of the analyses, including findings on trade enforcement and recommendations for strengthening enforcement.”
Rand finds that the trade enforcement is making measurable progress, but “stakeholders are encountering impediments that DHS cannot address entirely on its own.” They also say that trade enforcement “cannot change China’s policy on forced labor in the XUAR” alone. Rand offers six recommendations to strengthen trade enforcement:
- Look for opportunities to encourage robust stakeholder participation by improving the flow and quality of information through greater transparency and improvements in tools, technology, and methods of data analysis.
- Consider a more comprehensive approach to combating forced labor in global supply chains by working with other U.S. agencies and other countries to better leverage potential complementarities of economic sanctions and other types of measures.
- Consider options for mitigating unintended consequences in concert with other U.S. agencies and with input from nongovernmental stakeholders, either by reducing them or responding to them, depending on their severity and likely prevalence.
- Work with other U.S. agencies to monitor indicators of progress and unintended consequences over time to better understand how conditions are evolving.
- Develop evidence with stakeholders to inform public debates on trade enforcement, including those on concerns about de minimis entries and environmental initiatives.
- Continue to make the case for funding and staffing, which are critical resources for trade enforcement and are likely to need to increase.
-
Semafor: Trump administration weighs adding Shein, Temu to forced labor list
Semafor is reporting that the Trump administration is thinking about adding Shein and Temu to the UFLPA Entity List. An investigation by the House China Select Committee in 2023 concluded that Shein and Temu exploit the de minimis exemption to “evade customs enforcement” and that Temu has “no system to ensure compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)” and that Temu admitted it “does not expressly prohibit third-party sellers from selling products based on their origin in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.”
“It would be a pretty bold move,” to add the fast-fashion companies to the list, said Greta Peisch, a former general counsel for the US trade representative under the Biden administration. She added that, alongside the ending of the shipping exemption, it would show the Trump administration is “really targeting consumer goods.”
-
Supply Chains and Due Diligence: Insights from the OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector
Last week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) hosted the 2025 Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector. In case you were not in Paris, here are some of the highlights. During the Forum, the OECD released two papers and also held a series of side sessions for the public. In this FIA, we share analysis of the papers and a link to one of the side sessions that discusses engagement with Gen Z.
The OECD released a Business and Finance policy paper, The role of sustainability certifications in due diligence in the garment and footwear sector. The OECD examines the rise in sustainability certifications in the garment and footwear sector from 2018 to 2023 and also provides detailed information about the types of certifications. According to the OECD, the number of facilities certified under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) increased by 154% and the number of facilities certified under the Oeko-Tex Sustainable Textile and Leather Production (SteP) increased by 242%. While the proportion of certified fibers and materials make up a small percentage of the materials currently available in the market, the OECD company survey finds that 81% of brands and retailers now require sustainability certifications from their suppliers.
The policy paper places these sustainability certifications into three main categories, examines how they are currently being used by brands and retailers, and includes considerations for both companies and policymakers.
Especially interesting is the table that reviews the types of sustainability certifications, the purpose of the certification, and what organizations offer each certification.
The OECD also released a new report Measuring the uptake and impact of due diligence for responsible supply chains. The technical report explains how the OECD’s new monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework can help researchers and businesses show the positive results of adopting the OECD’s Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector. The framework is intended to help businesses “better understand the effectiveness of their due diligence” by suggesting the types of information that could be of interest and the possible research designs that businesses could use to leverage their data. Be sure to take a look at Table 2, which provides examples of sources to measure due diligence.
One of the key side sessions was organized and moderated by Dr. Sheng Lu, Professor in the University of Delaware’s Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies. Due Diligence Education for Gen Z: Preparing Future Fashion Leaders for Sustainable and Socially Responsible Apparel Sourcing features key industry leaders: Laurie Rando, Senior Director of Sustainable Product and Human Rights, Macy’s; Megan Dawson-Elli, Manager of Product Sustainability, Tapestry; Matthias Knappe, Head of Fibres, Textiles and Clothing Unit, International Trade Centre; Emilie Delaye, Master’s Student, Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware; and USFIA President Julia Hughes.
The goal for this discussion is to highlight the role that Gen Z plays today as consumers and will play as future industry leaders. We talk about how college and university programs can equip Gen Z with the information about due diligence, sustainable sourcing, and supply chain transparency that will help shape the future of responsible apparel sourcing. And there is an inspiring discussion about the importance of industry-academic partnerships.
-
Tariffs: Bark Worse Than Bite?
We share with members an analysis by Charles Schwab that looks at the four potential reasons why the market is dismissing the threat of tariffs and reasons for caution, despite the market responding positively to Trump’s first week in office.
- No Day One tariffs enacted as had been pledged.
Despite the fact that President Trump told reporters he was planning to enact the 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico on February 1, there was no immediate action on tariffs and they were not mentioned in Trump’s inaugural address.
But there are still risks the market may be ignoring. Notably, President Trump's comments and the presidential memorandum on trade policy note that several federal agencies were instructed to review a broad range of trade issues and to report back with recommendations by April 1.
- U.S. energy exports offered as a way for Europe and China to avoid tariffs.
President Trump and Scott Bessent, his nominee for Treasury Secretary, have suggested that Europe and China could avoid import tariffs if they buy more U.S. energy.
Producing enough energy to narrow the trade gaps may take substantial energy price inflation in the U.S., something the administration may be wary of facilitating.
- The new political leadership in Europe and Canada are more like Trump, easing the path to cutting a deal.
Markets may be taking comfort in the rising potential for warmer cross-border relationships. Accommodative personalities may make trade talks go more smoothly but doesn't guarantee resolution to the focus around Trump's trade policies—the massive U.S. trade gap.
- Global trade survived Trump 1.0.
If history is any indication, the current tariff proposals may simply be negotiation tools leading toward agreements with China and other countries, and potentially much less disruptive to economic growth, inflation, sales, and operations of multi-national corporations. The market seems to believe that Trump will continue to use dramatic tariff announcements as a tool of statecraft to extract actions or concessions, rather than tools of economic policy. The risk? Trump 2.0 may differ significantly from Trump 1.0.
-
Trade Fact of the Week: Sometimes countries make big and fateful choices…and sometimes their big and fateful choices go badly wrong
Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at the Progressive Policy Institute, put out his trade fact of the week, elaborating on PPI’s newest report Trump’s Folly, Harris’ Opportunity: Trade and the Blue-Collar Worker. The report “assesses the limitations of “Bidenomics”' honorable-but-not-quite-successful effort to create a “worker-centred” trade policy, and then suggests ways to connect trade policy to blue-collar aspirations and concerns, organized around a “guidepost” and four policy themes.” Two of those policy themes are purging junk tariffs and creating more export opportunities, as opposed to a national sales tax.
Theme 1: Bring home goods prices down by purging junk tariffs. Reduce the cost of living by purging the 11,414-line tariff system of lines — for groceries, for clothes and shoes, for small appliances, and table silverware – which raise prices, discriminate against women and lower-income families, and don’t protect any jobs. The launch for this is the Fletcher/Pettersen Pink Tariffs Study Act introduced by Reps. Lizzie Fletcher and Brittany Pettersen this spring.
Theme 2: Help workers find better jobs by creating more export opportunities. Data from the Census and BEA illustrate the high quality of jobs in exporting firms. As just one example, African American-owned exporting firms average 10 more employees and $10,000 more in payroll per worker than the U.S. business community generally. Here the next president can build on some creative Biden team policy launches — see Secretary Raimondo’s launch of the Global Diversity Exporter Initiative — and combine this with revived Obama-era themes of opening markets, pooling strengths, and building relationships with friends and allies.
-
Trade Fact of the Week: The Trump Campaign is Proposing a Higher Tea Tax than George III
Last week, PPI’s Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets, put out a trade fact of the week tying together the history of July 4th and Trump’s proposed tariff plan. As you can see in the graphic below, Trump’s campaign proposal would raise taxes on Chinese tea 2% higher than what triggered the Boston Tea Party.
-
Transparentem Report Finds Child Labor, Pesticides on Indian Organic Cotton Farms
Transparentem recently released From Field to Fabric: Enhancing Due Diligence in Cotton Supply Chains, summarizing the findings of an investigation between June 2022 and March 2023 on cotton farms in the Khargone and Barwani districts of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The investigation found evidence of child labor and illegal adolescent labor, debt bondage, withholding of wages, other wage violations and poverty-level wages, abusive working conditions, and abuse of vulnerability on farms connected to the Pratibha Syntex, Maral Overseas, and Remei India/Remei AG supply chains. Transparentem also found evidence that the organic cotton farms connected to the Pratibha Syntex supply chain may be tainted by pesticides.
Transparentem recommends brands and retailers to get involved in remediation efforts and programs to improve working conditions, such as the Fair Labor Association’s Harvesting the Future – Cotton in India. The report includes detailed information about supplier engagement by Indian companies, as well as corporate responses and engagement with Transparentem. There is a useful table that lists Cotton sourcing initiatives, certifications, and business associations, including YESS.
While there are inherent challenges in addressing complex and systemic issues, Transparentem continues to urge the suppliers and buyers to move with urgency toward implementing remediation plans to prevent and respond to all identified risks so that children and workers do not continue to suffer.
About
The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) is dedicated to fashion made possible by global trade.
USFIA represents brands, retailers, importers, and wholesalers based in the United States and doing business globally. Founded in 1989, USFIA works to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers that impede the fashion industry’s ability to trade freely and create jobs in the United States.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, USFIA is the voice of the fashion industry in front of the U.S. government as well as international governments and stakeholders. With constant, two-way communication, USFIA staff and counsel serve as the eyes and ears of our members in Washington and around the world, enabling them to stay ahead of the regulatory challenges of today and tomorrow. Through our publications, educational events, and networking opportunities, USFIA also connects with key stakeholders across the value chain including U.S. and international service providers, suppliers, and industry groups.
Learn More About USFIA Learn About the Fashion Industry Attend Our Events
News
-
Lutnick and Greer Talk UK Trade Deal with Reynolds
- Information
- 20 March 2025
Fashion Intel & Analysis
-
Textile and Apparel Industry Weighs in on Reciprocal Tariffs
- Information
- 20 March 2025
Fashion Intel & Analysis
-
-
Rubio Argues Will Reset Baseline for Trade Negotiations
- Information
- 17 March 2025
Fashion Intel & Analysis
-
Events
Reports
2025 Sourcing Trends & Outlook Report
USFIA's 2025 Sourcing Trends & Outlook Report is out. Members can log-in to the website to download it here.
The top 5 sourcing trends in the 2025 report are:
- Asian apparel suppliers continue to dominate sourcing.
- China maintains its role as the top supplier.
- Higher costs are easing with lower average unit values.
- New suppliers highlight apparel sourcing opportunities.
- Despite high duty rates, FTAs and preference programs remain underutilized. CAFTA remains the major duty-free supplier.
The sourcing report includes a special section with global trade data prepared by Dr. Sheng Lu, professor in the Fashion and Apparel Studies Department at the University of Delaware. Dr. Lu highlights the high cost of tariffs over the last 14 years, with U.S. fashion companies paying $11.9 billion in tariffs on apparel imports in 2024.
Top U.S. Apparel Suppliers in 2024 by Quantity
When it comes to apparel, Asian suppliers continue to dominate the U.S. market. The top seven suppliers continue to ship more than 70% of total apparel imports. Again this year the three largest apparel suppliers represent just over 60% of apparel imports.
Top U.S. Apparel Suppliers in 2024 by Value
By value, China is the top supplier of U.S. apparel imports, but China no longer dominates the import data. There are 18 suppliers that ship 1% or more of apparel imports by value, with several suppliers who make the list thanks to shipping higher value apparel to the U.S.
2025 Sourcing Report trend: FTAs and Preference Programs Remain Underutilized
With duties on apparel as high as 32%, there are many reasons to take a fresh look at the apparel and textile manufacturers eligible for preference programs and free trade agreements. The value of U.S. apparel imports that qualify for duty-free access during 2024 increased slightly from one year ago.
2024 USFIA Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study
This is the eleventh USFIA Benchmarking Survey and again fashion industry sourcing executives face a litany of challenges. Concern over the economy and inflation, as well as eliminating forced labor, continue to be top concerns in the U.S. fashion industry. This year's respondenents also report an elevated level of concern about the impact of shipping and supply chain disruptions as well as geopolitical tensions.
New for this year is a sharp increase in sourcing executives who are concerned about the protectionist trade policy agenda in the United States, with 45% ranking it a top-5 business challenge, compared with just 15% last year.
Download the complete study here, and see the highlights below:
This year's survey respondents were more optimistic than last year, bucking a 2-year trend.
India is the new rising star for Asian sourcing bases, surpassing Bangladesh for the first time and landing in the top spot for where companies want to expand sourcing.
This year, survey respondents underscore the importance of immediate renewal of AGOA before its expiration in September 2025 and extending the agreement for at least another ten years.
Partners
USFIA Premier Partner
USFIA Customs Broker Partner
USFIA Innovation Partner
USFIA Technology Partner
USFIA Corporate Social Responsibility Sponsor
