On a 4 May deadline, Sourcing Journal reports on the inputs needed to rebuild the US Textile Manufacturing industry.
Kate Nishimura | May 4, 2026
Tariffs may have prompted trade diversification, but not to the U.S. market or even the Western Hemisphere, according to Dr. Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, whose research fueled the latest Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study released by the U.S. Fashion Industry Association.
A record-high percentage of surveyed companies opened up their sourcing to more than 10 countries last year, and almost 60 percent said they plan to source apparel from even more countries moving forward. Even with the push to broaden their portfolios, however, Asia remains a dominant source of U.S. apparel imports.
By value, a whopping 72.6 percent of U.S. apparel imports came from Asia in 2025, up from 71.6 percent the year prior. According to Lu’s research, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Cambodia collectively hit a new record, accounting for 50.6 percent of U.S. apparel imports last year, compared to around 37.1 percent pre-COVID-19. “In other words, due to production capacity constraints, many U.S. fashion companies have been diversifying sourcing within Asia rather than significantly shifting orders to other regions,” he wrote.
“Emerging sourcing destinations like Cambodia, Indonesia or India — they have built capacity and they’re supported by investors from China,” Lu told Sourcing Journal. He believes that’s the reason these countries saw export growth to the U.S. skyrocket last year.