The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has revoked duty-free concessions on import of at least 50 Indian products, mostly from the handloom and agriculture sectors. The federal register notification mentioned 90 products that were so far subject to duty-free provisions under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

President Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation recently, leading to the removal of these products from the privilege, beginning November 1. These products may continue to be imported subject to regular most favoured nation duty-rates, a news agency reported.

In 2017, the duty-free export to the United States by India, the largest beneficiary of the GSP, under the scheme was to the tune of more than $5.6 billion. The list conveys that a large number of small and medium businesses could be impacted, in particular handloom and agricultural sector, the report said.

Products from Pakistan, Ecuador, Brazil, Thailand, Suriname, Turkey, the Philippines, Argentina and Indonesia have also been removed from the GSP list.

The intensifying trade war between Washington and Beijing weakened factory activity and export orders weakening across Asia last month. In a sign conditions for exporters and factories were deteriorating, manufacturing surveys showed marginal growth in China, a slowdown in South Korea and Indonesia and a contraction in activity in Malaysia and Taiwan.

These figures follow weaker-than-expected industrial production data from Japan and South Korea, with output in the latter shrinking the most in over 1-1/2 years. By contrast, the US ISM manufacturing survey for October was expected to show a much faster growth pace than in Asia, albeit a tad slower than in September, supporting the outlook for further Federal Reserve Rate hikes.

Worryingly, the prospects for higher US rates could feed back more market pain for the region's externally vulnerable economies — Indonesia, India and the Philippines, which have already been forced to raise rates to mitigate a sell-off in currencies, stocks and bonds.

Swiss textile technology innovator HeiQ and sustainable outdoor clothing brand Patagonia have expanded their partnership. Patagonia will begin using HeiQ fresh tech odor control in its fall 2019 collection. Odor control technology in active wear helps humans to be close to others without having to worry about bad smell.

HeiQ fresh tech is a family of highly versatile and effective odor-preventing and odor-absorbing textile technologies that continue to be effective even after prolonged use and frequent washings. This product family comprises technologies that either prevent odor from emerging, absorb odor from the surroundings, or take both into action.

Patagonia, based in the US, is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, defending clean water and air, and divesting from dirty technologies. Its mission is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

The approach Patagonia takes toward product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility. Patagonia-inspired fleece jackets have been popping up on runways over the past several years. Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, and trail running.

Third quarter net sales of Hanes increased three per cent. Constant-currency organic sales, which increased for the fifth consecutive quarter, were up more than one per cent. GAAP operating profit declined one per cent. Adjusted operating profit increased one per cent.

Champion sales increased 30 per cent in the third quarter on a constant-currency basis with strong double-digit growth in the United States, Asia and Europe on top of strong double-digit growth in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the mass channel, global Champion constant-currency sales increased 40 per cent.

While operating margin declined 50 basis points to 13.9 per cent on a reported GAAP basis, the pro forma adjusted operating margin excluding the bankruptcy charge increased 50 basis points to 15.8 per cent as a result of organic growth, pricing actions, integration synergies and new acquisition contributions that more than offset increased brand and growth investment.

Hanes used its free-cash generation to pay down debt in the third quarter, lowering its debt leverage to 3.8 times on a net debt-to-ebitda basis. Innerwear basics sales decreased, with socks and panties sales down and men’s underwear sales up. All three categories had point-of-sale growth. Products featuring innovation now account for 20 per cent of basics sales.

A textile import management body has been constituted by the government to oversee all textiles imports into the country. The management body would oversee the vetting of the designs, management of quantities, etc. A textiles anti-piracy taskforce which has been constituted would undertake monitoring exercises on all markets to ensure due diligence is done.

The new import regime does not seek to ban imports. It only seeks to sanitise the textile industry to ensure that the Ghanaian industry is protected from fake imports. The town hall meeting was used to sensitise textile workers on the implementation of the Textile Industry Reforms Programme.

The minister outlined some policies to be implemented by his ministry to enhance the competitiveness of the local textiles industry. He introduced tax stamp for locally manufactured and genuinely imported textiles, designated entry corridor and revision of task force as some of the policies.

Global production of cotton is expected to decrease in 2018-19. Although Brazil and West Africa are expected to see an uptick in planted area, they are unlikely to be significant enough to offset losses in Australia, China, India and the United States.

The decline in global ending stocks continues as well, down 22 per cent from 2014-15. The trend is expected to continue next year, with the projected six per cent decrease further eroding stocks.
Due to uncertainties in the world economy and trading market, the global consumption forecast for 2018-19 has been revised downward to 27.5 million tons. Demand for Indian cotton is robust from China as a trade war is prompting the world's top consumer to avoid imports from the United States.

Indian cotton prices are ruling 10 per cent lower than international prices. The minimum support price is up 26 to 28 per cent, notwithstanding favorable monsoon conditions.

After years of BCI cotton, organic cotton, laser technologies and more, it still costs brands to make and sell environmentally-friendly jeans. The reason some good innovations are still relatively expensive is critical mass hasn’t yet been reached. Brands show interest in sustainable alternatives, but cost is always a concern.

Companies are focused on the price of the fiber instead of looking at the total garment price. This micromanaging of pricing at each step makes it very hard. The only way to get around the issue of price is for all of the links in the supply chain to come together and really try to build the right price that’s fair to start accelerating change.

Educating the consumer about the innovation, and making it available at a price they’re already comfortable with paying, may make it easier to sell sustainable denim at a higher price down the road. In the future, if a brand needs to increase the price, consumers will understand why.

Rather than fixate on cost, the industry needs to shift its message to focus on value. Price is associated with value, and if the right value is provided, consumers will pay the price. So consumers need to be given what they want and at a good value.

"As per a new McKinsey study, western brands are finding it easier to produce in low-cost countries due to the rising costs in China. For brands selling in the US, Mexico has emerged as the most suitable option while for labels selling in Europe, Turkey is a prime manufacturing destination. According to McKinsey, labor costs in China in 2005, which were about one-tenth of the US, are now about one-third. This rise has resulted in labor in some “nearshore” countries being cheaper—than in China. For instance, making a pair of jeans in Mexico and importing it into the US costs about 12 per cent lesser. For a company looking to import its jeans into Germany, Turkey is 3 per cent cheaper than China."

As per a new McKinsey study, western brands are finding it easier to produce in low-cost countries due to the rising costs in China. For brands selling in the US, Mexico has emerged as the most suitable option while for labels selling in Europe, Turkey is a prime manufacturing destination.

Benefits of nearshoring

According to McKinsey, labor costs in China in 2005, which were about one-tenth of the US, are now about one-third. This rise has resulted in labor in some “nearshore” countries being cheaper—than in China. For instance, making a pair of jeans in Mexico and importing it into the US costs about 12 per cent lesser. For a company looking to import its jeans into Germany, Turkey is 3 per cent cheaper than China.

Although producing the same pair of jeans cost 20 per cent less in Bangladesh; Turkey and Mexico are preferred due to their shorter delivery times from those countries. The shorter lead times yield a number of benefits, creating an added economic bonus.

New technologies to speed up deliveries

Fashion companies are embracing new technologies to speed up deliveries. McKinsey assumed a hypothetical scenario where all major technologies currently in development were implemented, and worked with a university in Aachen, Germany, and the Digital Capability Center Aachen to calculate the cost savings in time and labor for producing a pair of jeans.

Based on their calculations, to produce the jeans in China with automation and import them into the US, the final cost ends up being around $11.40. But to produce them in Mexico with automation and import them into the US, the cost would be about $10, plus the assorted benefits of the shorter lead time, too.

Slow pace of growth

Experts agree these changes are happening but are likely to take a long time. China has built up a manufacturing infrastructure and capacity that other countries just can’t match. Some brands are already moving a share of production to nearby countries, but a large-scale shift might not be possible until those countries are able to build up factories to handle the workload.

The vast majority of this work currently happens in Asia, particularly in China, especially in the case of any specialised fabrics. Companies may assemble finished garments in Mexico or Turkey, but they buy and import all their materials from much further overseas. With shipping costs and duties rising, many Western brands are likely to keep their production in Asia.

A shift from China

Clothing and footwear brands are being pushed to look outside China and nearer to home for manufacturing. In a highly competitive market that’s splitting ever more into winners and losers, a fast, flexible supply chain is increasingly an advantage. It allows brands to respond better to the needs and wants of today’s demanding, internet-enabled shoppers, and that’s why brands including Nike, Adidas, Levi’s are changing the way they make their products—and investing in things like automation and moving production nearshore.

Ultimately, it’s not so much a question of whether garment production will move away from China and closer to Western markets, rather it will be how much of the supply chain will be rerouted, and when.

"It all began a year ago with the US administration, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, imposing a 25 per cent tariff on 818 categories of goods imported from China. This move further escalated into a major bilateral trade war between these two economic superpowers. Since then, US-based brands relying on Chinese manufacturing have seen their products cost escalating and profit margins declining, making it difficult for them to survive in the competitive market. As the latest quarterly survey of more than 150 global businesses by the Hong Kong-based QIMA supply chain audit and inspection service reveals, over three quarters of US respondents say they have been seriously impacted by US-China tariffs."

It all began a year ago with the US administration, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, imposing a 25 per cent tariff on 818 categories of goods imported from China. This move further escalated into a major bilateral trade war between these two economic superpowers. Since then, US-based brands relying on Chinese manufacturing have seen their products cost escalating and profit margins declining, making it difficult for them to survive in the competitive market. As the latest quarterly survey of more than 150 global businesses by the Hong Kong-based QIMA supply chain audit and inspection service reveals, over three quarters of US respondents say they have been seriously impacted by US-China tariffs.

There is no sign of this cycle of imposition and counter imposition of tariffs coming to an end. Last week President Trump announced his plans to impose 10 per cent tariff on another $300bn worth of Chinese imports from September 2019. China, in turn, responded by asking state-owned firms to halt their US agricultural purchases and by allowing its tightly controlled currency to slide to an 11-year low against the US dollar – a move that makes Chinese goods cheaper overseas and US exports to China more expensive.

Companies shift out of China

Alarmed by rising geopolitical and economic tensions between the US and China becoming a norm, a few US and other companies are shifting their production facilities to other locations. A recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce reveals around 40 per cent of the US companies that currently manufacture in China have either already shifting or are planning to shift their production facilities to other offshore locations.

Over 50 multinational companies including Apple, Nintendo and Dell are planning to shift at least some of their production to emerging alternative offshore manufacturing hubs including Vietnam, Malaysia and India. Electronics giant TCL is moving its TV production to Vietnam and Sailun Tire is shifting its tire manufacturing line to Thailand. Others are relocating manufacturing operations to more established, lower cost countries including Mexico.

Vietnam to emerge as beneficiary

Experts view these moves as a long-term structural change in the global trade flow, rather than a temporary response to the escalating US-China trade tensions. Most US-based manufacturers were already planning to move their operations out of China even before the US imposed its first round of tariffs on them. The US-imposed tariffs only accelerated this inevitable realignment.

This realignment will mainly benefit countries like Vietnam, whose foreign investment permit applications, have already risen by 26 percent to 1,720 in the first half of 2019. The shift will also benefit enterprise software and service providers – particularly those that enable companies to become Intelligent Enterprises and facilitate efficient, responsive and reliable supply chains.

According to business leaders including SAP’s Chief Executive, Bill McDermott, the recent disruption of trade patterns and supply chains could have profound long-term implications because once companies move their production out of China, they are not likely to return in the near future. This makes the realignment of global supply chains and uncertainty that accompanies such changes unlikely to end in the near future.

These changes impact the company’s ability to respond quickly to rapidly changing customer requirements and other external factors such as supply chain disruptions. For consumers, these moves will result in the reduction of ‘Made in China’ labels.

Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, while unveiling the Fabric of Unity on the occasion of birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gurugram, exhorted AEPC to spread the concept in its offices. Minister urged the AEPC to put together the entire history and the textile designs of the then princely states which were united into the Indian Union by Sardar Patel.

The minister also flagged off Unity March. Smriti Zubin Irani administered the Unity Pledge to the office bearers, staff of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and students of Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC).

Speaking on the occasion, she referred to Rs 6,000 crore package launched by the government in 2016 for the growth of apparel and garment sector to bring in more skilled labor in the organized sector.