Earlier this month, the Indian government announced a 28 per cent increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for important crops such as cotton and paddy to help support farmers.

While this support from the farm sector was welcomed by the agriculture and allied sectors, the textile sector did not welcome the move as the MSP increase will likely increase the price of domestic cotton and make the raw material relatively expensive, which will impact the textile sector.

The Indian cotton sector currently needs to focus on increasing its productivity, improving its quality, working on its contamination levels and diversifying its strength. It currently needs economically feasible and suitable projects that can attract both domestic and export markets.

The industry is likely to be benefitted by enhancing its product offerings, strengthening its downstream processing and developing value-added textile sectors such as technical textiles.

Several international clothing brands are planning to increase their retail prices in India due to the depreciation of the Indian rupee.

Amit Gugnani, Senior Vice President, Technopak Advisors stated that many international brands/retailers in India import a large part of their garments, and the depreciation of rupee has increased the import costs by up to 10-15 per cent. Hence, many global brands/retailers are planning to pass on this cost to the consumer.

The rupee has fallen by more than 15 percent in the past few months and it touched a record low of Rs. 69 to the dollar, surpassing its previous low of 56.52.

However, most of the brands do not have sufficient volume to justify local sourcing and also the competence of local vendors may not be up to the mark.

Most brands had increased their prices last year due to levy of excise duty on branded garments. However, this year excise duty impact on brands has been reduced and also cotton prices have declined substantially.

As per a report recently released by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the country’s garment and footwear exports rose to US$ 4 billion in the first six months of 2018, reflecting an increase of 11 per cent and almost doubled the 6.9 per cent rise recorded compared to previous year.

The industry insiders opine that the robust growth could have been sparked by strong sales in the US market. Manufacturers have also attributed the strong growth to favorable global economic conditions, particularly in the US and the European Union (EU), the main destinations for Cambodia’s garment and footwear exports.

In a related development, in the first six months of 2018 Cambodia’s exports of travel goods to the US increased from US$ 50 million annually to US$ 160 million. Formerly, the US had reinstated its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) program for Cambodian travel goods. However, the growth rate of travel goods to the EU have remained flat.

The EU has criticised the Cambodian government’s human rights record, and have stated that it is reconsidering Everything but Arms (EBA) program for Cambodia. An EU fact finding mission that had recently visited Cambodia is expected to submit its report in the coming days. Cambodian trade officials have discounted fears of possible repercussions for the country’s garment and footwear industry in the event that the EU scales back the preferential trade scheme for Cambodia.

Instead, soon the government officials have stressed on increasing exports to other markets such as Canada, Japan and China to cushion any adverse impact from a potential roll back of the EBA program.

Charisma and confidence are some of the qualities Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is vying to portray in its revamped identity and new advertising campaign.

Recently the company unveiled the new look as an effort to show a new version of itself, while staying true to its 125-year history as an American sportswear brand. The campaign includes a completely redesigned website and all-new digital advertising across platforms including social media. It is even integrating the apparel brand with select properties through a series of bespoke co-branded events and pop-up shops. Through the partnership, both companies aim to create unique experiences for customers and provide opportunities for members and guests to deepen their connection and loyalty through exclusive events.

Guests at Sbe hotels will have select access to A&F pop-up shops and exclusive offers, while members of the A&F Club, the brand’s loyalty program, can enter to win VIP access to grand openings and other cultural events at Sbe properties. Additionally, A&F Club members will be rewarded with special benefits at Sbe hotels and restaurants.

The partnership kicked off this month with a “Do it in denim” event at the Mondrian Los Angeles, where attendees had the opportunity to see and try A&F’s new denim collection. The retailer plans to launch more events in the coming months.

American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) President and CEO Rick Helfenbein has opposed President Trump’s decision to impose new punitive tariffs on all $500 billion of U.S. imports from China.

According to him, the tariffs would make American companies and farms less competitive threatening the very livelihoods of millions of American workers and farmers.

Calling it a short sighted approach Trump labeled the tariffs as taxes that will hit the low-income Americans the hardest, imposing new hidden taxes on everything that they need to buy for themselves and their families.

He also expressed his association’s desire to participate in a trading system that creates more jobs in America and respects its intellectual property, but stated that tariffs will not enable this. They will only create inflation, hurt the consumer, and damage the economy.

Experts have hinted that Kenya is likely to be a beneficiary of another US export window that is being considered to replace the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after seven years.

AGOA, which grants the country and 40 other African states quota and duty-free access to the US market of more than 6,000 product lines expires in 2025.

The US hosted the 17th AGOA Forum where discussions also focused on options for a “post-AGOA” model from 2025 onwards, including the possibility of crafting free trade deals. Currently countries eligible for AGOA benefits are subject to various requirements covering topics beyond purely economic concerns, such as ensuring rule of law, labour rights protections, and political pluralism.

The AGOA plan has been dominated by export of textile and apparel, which accounts for 65 per cent of the total exports. Kenya ranks among the top supplier of apparel to the US, having exported $340 million worth of such goods to the US last year.

The National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO) has praised the Trump administration’s tariff announcement and suggested that any future list made for tariff purpose for China, under Section 301 should include finished textile and apparel products.

This is completely in contrast to the earlier situation, when the American Apparel and Footwear Association was pleased that no textile and apparel products were subject to punitive tariffs proposed by the USTR in the initial list published under Section 301.

The June 15 USTR list also removes the majority of the textile machinery initially on the retaliation product-list back in April 2018. Even the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) opposed adding apparel and other fashion products to the retaliation list against China, arguing that imposing tariffs on imports of fashion products would do nothing to solve the concerns about China’s IP policies and practices outlined in USTR’s Section 301 report.

However, the NCTO is firm on including textile and apparel products in the future list. If properly targeted, Section 301 tariffs would not only address the underlying illegal activity on the part of China, but also help re-shore American jobs and boost U.S. exports to the NAFTA and CAFTA regions.

Pure London, the largest fashion festival, being held in London from July 22-24, 2018 will feature an edited collection of over 700 global brands, including some of the best emerging designers showcasing their latest collections in the UK for the first time; sustainable and ethical collections in Pure Conscious; and childrenswear in Pure Kid.

Sourcing and manufacturing show Pure Origin has grown this season and now includes a dedicated Denim area and a future Fabric Trends display.

The show will include exclusive SS19 future trend insights by WGSN and catwalk shows, including Graduate Fashion Week winners and childrenswear. It will also feature a host of worshops and provide networking opportunities including keynote addresses from Maya Jama, Professor Caryn Franklin, and Hilary Alexander OBE discussing diversity, ethics and sustainability in fashion.

Pure London, will also collaborate with Scoop to offer buyers a complimentary taxi service between the two shows.

Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the Malaysian government, is planning to invest in the Indian arm of Pepe Jeans.

Khazanah joins The Carlyle Group, Advent International and General Atlantic to acquire a stake in Pepe Jeans. The three US-based private equity funds were shortlisted to acquire a controlling stake in the Indian arm of Pepe Jeans.

The valuation is still being negotiated between Khazanah and Pepe. Earlier, the branded apparel group was seeking a valuation of Rs 2,000 crore ( $US .29 billion) for its business in India. Pepe Jeans India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pepe Jeans Group headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. The company was originally founded by three Indians, Arun, Nitin and Milan Shah, in London in 1973 as a weekend stall denim brand.

Pepe Jeans in India has over 215 franchise stores and retails its branded apparel through 1,000 multi-brand stores in the country. For fiscal year 2017, the firm posted net of Rs 49 crore ($US 7.12 million) and sales of Rs 424 crore ($US 0.62 billion), according to filings with Registrar of Companies.

The Karachi Cotton Association has urged the government to waive all duties and taxes on import of cotton immediately in the national interest so that the local textile industry is able to export optimum quantity of value added products of raw cotton in the international market.

The Pakistan government had decided to impose 3 percent customs duty, 2 percent additional customs duty, 5 percent sales tax and 1 percent income tax on import of raw cotton with a view to encourage use of the local cotton crop.

KCA views that the Government should realise that due to anticipated decline in cotton production again in cotton season 2018-19 especially owing to severe water shortage during cultivation period and usual factors of reduction in yield per acre, cultivation of sugarcane in the areas earmarked for cotton cultivation and supply of uncertified Cotton Seed etc.

The local textile industry is, therefore, compelled to import raw cotton from abroad to meet its requirement of basic/primary raw material.

However, after payment of such heavy duties and taxes imposed on import of cotton, the cost of imported cotton will be considerably increased due to which the local textile industry will become unable to compete in the international markets. As a result of this, the exports of value added products of cotton and foreign exchange earning of the country will be badly affected.