With eight foreign companies announcing their plans to invest around $700 million, the American textile industry has been witnessing a sudden rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past eight months. These investments are expected to generate about 1,900 new job opportunities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana. 

With ‘Made in USA’ trend gaining momentum, the United States is emerging as an attractive option for textile manufacturers looking for competitive energy, transportation, and fiber costs compared to current sourcing destinations like China, which is grappling with rising labour and raw material cost. The surge in investments is also being attributed to US trade policy in the textile sector. Over the past 25 years, the country has completed a series of free trade agreements that include a Yarn-Forward Rule of Origin for textile and apparel products. 

The Yarn-Forward rule has helped the US textile industry become the third largest exporter of textile products in the world. US exports of all textile products were around $17.9 billion in 2013. Over the past 10 years, textile exports have grown exponentially from $12.7 billion in 2003 to $17.9 billion in 2013, a 40.6 per cent increase.

Examples of FDI investments include largest investment announcement of about a quarter of a billion dollars from Gildan Activewear, based in Montreal, Canada. Apart from Gildan, since August 2013, textile companies from India, Mexico, and China have announced new investment plans in the United States. 

www.gildan.com