On a 24 July deadline, Just Style shares how the USFIA Fashion Benchmarking Study 2026 revealed China’s role in respondents’ sourcing portfolios continued to decline in 2026:
Hannah Abdulla | July 24, 2026
The 13th edition of the USFIA report, produced in collaboration with the University of Delaware professor of apparel studies, Dr Sheng Lu and graduate instructor Emilie Delaye, found only 12% of respondents sourced more than 30% of their apparel products from China, while most companies sourced less than 10% from the country.
Trade data shows that China’s share of US apparel imports fell below both Vietnam and Bangladesh for the first time in decades.
The survey suggests one of the reasons China sourcing has cooled in recent years is the importance being placed on forced labour. Managing forced labour risk reemerged as a pressing concern for US fashion companies in 2026, moving up from the 10th most pressing concern for respondents in 2025 to sixth in 2026.
Consistent with the survey results, data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows that $53.6m in value of textiles, apparel, and footwear products were detailed under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the first four months of 2026, a substantial increase of 56.8% from $23.2m.
Meanwhile, several recently released policy guidelines and actions taken by the Trump Administration signal that enforcement of forced labour could be strengthened further and become a critical component of the Trump Administration’s trade policy, affecting the importing community moving forward.
...