U.S. textile mill output fell sharply by 12.1% last year (2007). The drop in output was the largest since the U.S. government began publishing production data on the topic in 1972.
New figures from the U.S. Federal Reserve reveal that U.S. textile mill (yarn and fabric makers) has plunged by almost 45% from its peak in December 1997.
"A flood of subsidized imports, especially those from China, is crippling the U.S. textile industry,” said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC).
U.S. textile and apparel imports by volume - square meters equivalent (SME) – have increased by 62% since 2001, with China accounting for almost all of the increase, according to figures from the U.S. Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA).
For the 12-month period ending in November 2007, textile and apparel imports totalled 53.15 billion SME, up from 32.81 billion SME in 2001, an increase of 20.34 billion SME. In the same period, U.S. textile and apparel imports by volume from China leapt by 19.17 billion SME, rising from 2.21 billion SME to 21.38 billion SME, an increase of 867%.
The scale of job losses in the U.S. has been as dramatic as the rise in imports. Since December 2001, employment in the U.S. textile and apparel sector has fallen from 886,900 to 522,800, a decline of 41%, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The decline in U.S. output directly is tied to the loss of market share, and the loss of market share then directly is tied to the loss of hundreds of thousands of U.S. textile and apparel manufacturing jobs," Tantillo said.
AMTAC argue that because textile production is heavily automated, capital intensive, and engineering driven, it is subsidies and illegal trade practices, not cheap labour, that have enabled China and others to take market share from U.S. textile makers.
The group wants U.S. government action to address subsidies and currency manipulation. It is urging the swift passage of two acts introduced in Congress aimed at tackling thee issues.
"Without specifically addressing the $428 billion annually disadvantage to U.S. producers and service providers caused by foreign value-added (VAT) taxes and rampant currency manipulation by China, among other problems, the playing field for U.S. manufacturers cannot be levelled," Tantillo stated. January 22, 2008
