On a 22 July deadline, Just Style highlights important results from USFIA's Fashion Benchmarking Survey 2026:
Hannah Abdulla | July 22, 2026
he 13th edition of the USFIA Fashion Benchmarking Study reveals that, while trade policy remains top of mind for fashion executives in 2026, many are moving beyond short-term crisis response and increasingly adopting longer-term strategies focused on supply chain optimisation, compliance capabilities and operational resilience.
Produced in collaboration with the University of Delaware’s professor, Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies, Dr Sheng Lu, and graduate instructor, Emilie Delaye, the report is based on a survey of executives from 30 leading US fashion companies.
92% of respondents said protectionist trade policies and related policy uncertainty, including the impact of tariffs, was one of their two most pressing business challenges this year, followed by inflation and US economic outlook.
Managing geopolitics was the fifth highest business challenge in 2026 among respondents. In particular, ongoing and emerging geopolitical tensions such as the Ukraine-Russia war, conflicts across the Middle East and US-China relations are increasingly likely to disrupt sourcing, shipping and broader business operations.
The US-Iran war was identified as one of the top geopolitical risks that could disrupt companies’ apparel supply chains this year.
Several concerns intensified in this year’s survey; “increasing production or sourcing costs” rose to the third most significant challenge while “protectionist trade policies and policy uncertainty in foreign countries” remained among top concerns.
Managing forced labour risks jumped four places up the table in 2026 compared to 2025.
When it comes to the impact of US tariff policy, more respondents reported negative effects on company financial performance, higher sourcing costs and reduced resources available for sustainability and product innovation compared with a year ago.
But companies are adopting a broader range of mitigation strategies including applying for tariff refunds, renegotiating supplier contracts and diversifying sourcing.
Julia Hughes, president of the USFIA said it was “no surprise” that the top business concern was trade policy and tariffs.
“What is different this year is that brands and retailers are changing how they respond to the tariffs and trade uncertainty. Successful sourcing strategies have shifted from diversification to consolidation. Since tariff challenges will affect costing and availability for the foreseeable future, the goal is to maintain geographic diversity while consolidating sourcing networks to work more closely with key strategic partners overseas that offer sourcing flexibility and strong compliance.
“Fashion brands and retailers continue to say the Trump Administration’s tariff policy has a direct and significant negative impact on business operations: company financial performance, higher sourcing costs, and reduced resources for new initiatives and innovation. At the same time, companies are less focused on trying to avoid the tariffs and instead try to manage tariffs costs by adopting a broad range of mitigation strategies, starting with getting the IEEPA tariff refunds.”