On a 20 July deadline, Vogue Business reports on recent trade agreement reviews' impact on sourcing plans:
Jessica Binns | July 20, 2026
Just under a third (31.6%) of the 30 leading US fashion companies reported sourcing apparel from Mexico this year, down from 52.9% in 2025 and 60.7% in 2024, according to a survey conducted by Sheng Lu, director of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, and Emilie Delaye, a graduate instructor in the department, in collaboration with the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA). Only 33% planned to increase apparel sourcing from Mexico over the next two years, down from 47% in 2025’s survey. The decline does not reflect a loss of Mexico’s sourcing advantages. Respondents still ranked it as the most competitive major sourcing destination for speed to market; 72% cited speed as a critical reason to source there, followed by duty savings at 63%. Companies also viewed Mexico as more flexible and lower risk on social and environmental compliance than many Asian suppliers.
The harder question is whether the policy environment is stable enough for brands to deepen their commitments. “These results underscore the importance of creating a stable and predictable policy environment,” Lu says.
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Importers are watching the review process closely. USFIA president Julia Hughes says there is broad support for USMCA among fashion and retail companies in all three countries, and that the industry has urged negotiators to preserve the agreement’s textile and apparel framework. “The industry supports no change in the rules of origin for our sector, and we believe the negotiators support that position,” Hughes says.
All respondents to the University of Delaware and USFIA survey supported keeping USMCA trilateral, because the apparel and textile value chain depends on a single regional framework for rules of origin, documentation, and duty-free treatment. Separate bilateral deals could fragment those rules, raise compliance costs, and make North American less attractive as a sourcing alternative. If the Trump administration revisits USMCA rules of origin, Lu says, the extent to which more flexibility is introduced into the current yarn-forward framework is likely to be one of the most contentious and politically sensitive issues in the debate.