MHI Solutions reports on sourcing trends as found in USFIA's 2025 and 2026 Benchmarking Studies:
Tom Gresham | July 20, 2026
THE SUPPLY CHAIN for the apparel and textile industry is vast and reaches across a wide spectrum of interested parties. According to the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), the U.S. textile industry, its domestic suppliers and customers comprise yarn and fabric manufacturers; suppliers in the cotton, wool and manmade fiber sectors; dyers, printers and finishers; the machinery and textile chemical industries; and the many customers in the U.S. apparel industry.
Altogether, the U.S. textile industry supply chain— including everything from textile fibers to apparel and other sewn products—employed more than 450,000 workers last year. NCTO cites statistics estimating that each textile manufacturing job in the U.S. supports three other positions. U.S. textile and apparel shipments totaled more than $60 billion in 2025, according to NCTO, and the industry invested approximately $34 billion in new plants and equipment between 2017 and 2024.
“The U.S. textile industry, suppliers and our customers are an important component of the U.S. economy and are found in every region of the country,” according to NCTO.
“The industry provides much‑needed jobs in rural areas and has functioned as a springboard for workers out of poverty into good‑paying jobs for generations.”
The textile and apparel field has experienced a period of disruption that stretches from the pandemic through the recent tariff wars. By its nature, the apparel and fashion industry is a global one, making it vulnerable to disruptions around the world—and making it critical for those organizations operating in the field to prioritize flexibility and resilience.
“Today’s fashion industry is deeply intertwined with sustainability, international relations, trade policy and technology,” said Sheng Lu, a professor in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware.
The apparel industry is one that especially relies on global sourcing networks.
“While global supply chains have enabled cost efficiencies and scalability, they also introduce exposure to disruptions, from shipping delays to geopolitical risks,” according to a report by Kinaxis, a supply chain software provider.
In a 2025 interview with the global fashion journal Modaes, Lu reflected on the impact the pandemic had on the industry—and continues to have.
“People still deeply remember the lessons they learned from COVID, as well as the ripple effect it had that continues even five years after it ended,” he said. “One thing companies learned was the importance of flexibility and agility in deciding where to source their products. At the time, many were heavily dependent on sourcing products from China. When the country decreed its confinement, the entire supply chain was significantly disrupted.
“In this regard, they learned the importance of building solid strategies with suppliers. Even today, to effectively mitigate the impact of tariffs, suppliers are seen as very important partners with whom to negotiate to obtain products ahead of schedule.”
In its report, Kinaxis emphasized that the pace of change in the fashion industry “has accelerated dramatically” in recent years—notable in an industry that was already “notoriously unpredictable.”
“Trends can emerge overnight on social media,” according to the report. “Consumers expect constant newness. Digital commerce has expanded globally while supply chain disruptions—from logistics bottlenecks to geopolitical tensions—continue to reshape production networks. For apparel companies, this creates a paradox: they must move faster than ever while managing increasingly complex supply chains.”
On top of that, a notable complexity for apparel supply chains is that the industry faces much higher return rates than other retail categories, meaning selling and delivering an item may only be the beginning of its supply chain journey.
In the United States Fashion Industry Association’s Sourcing Trends & Outlook Report for 2026, the association noted that 2025 would be remembered as the year of the Trump tariffs with U.S. apparel imports falling “as brands and retailers had to navigate a new level of uncertainty for sourcing and for costs.” The association also released a benchmarking study for 2025 in partnership with Lu, and that study featured a survey of executives from leading fashion brands, retailers, importers and wholesalers. They cited the U.S. tariff policies as their number one business challenge in 2025—in fact, 100% of respondents listed it as among their top challenges for the year. Those surveyed said higher tariffs have increased sourcing costs, squeezed profit margins and led to higher consumer prices.
In a 2025 interview with the University of Delaware news operation, Lu said, “The $4 trillion fashion and apparel business today is truly ‘made anywhere in the world and sold anywhere in the world.’ In such a highly global and interconnected industry, everyone is a stakeholder—meaning there are no real winners in a tariff war.”
The association’s report noted that major sourcing trends remained the same in many ways, with Asian suppliers dominating apparel sourcing. The top seven apparel suppliers in 2025 were China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, accounting for 78% of apparel imports. Many leading fashion companies shared that they used sourcing diversification to mitigate the impact of tariffs, particularly by diversifying their sources outside of China. Indeed, some of the fastest‑growing suppliers last year were Asian‑based apparel industries that took market share from China.