There may be “no clear proof” that the Trump administration’s tariff insurance policies have swayed U.S. trend corporations to up home sourcing, in line with a 2025 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study printed from the U.S. Vogue Business Affiliation.
Every of the 25 trend corporations surveyed between April and June for the report mentioned they anticipate greater tariff and commerce barrier prices this yr. Round 70% of respondents reported that they’d delayed or canceled sourcing orders attributable to tariff hikes from the Trump administration.
Up to now, adjusting procurement networks has been essentially the most generally adopted tariff mitigation technique, per the research, with greater than 80% of respondents saying that they might diversify their manufacturing footprint to different nations and areas.
About 44% of respondents explicitly acknowledged they might broaden sourcing from the Western Hemisphere, whereas 17% plan to supply extra ‘Made within the USA’ attire and textiles, per the research, which was printed in July. In the meantime, about 40% of surveyed respondents mentioned they sourced items from the U.S., matching the proportion from the 2024 model of the report.
“Greater tariffs can immediately drawback U.S.-based manufacturing,” report creator Sheng Lu, a professor on the College of Delaware’s division of trend and attire research, advised Provide Chain Dive in an e-mail. “A U.S. firm might manufacture the garments right here, however use yarns, materials, and zippers from different nations. When tariffs drive up the price of these uncooked supplies, it reduces the value competitiveness of attire ‘Made within the USA.’”
However that doesn’t imply U.S. trend manufacturers aren’t excited about shifting manufacturing to the Western Hemisphere — there are simply main challenges to handle.
Sourcing hurdles
Asia continues to be the dominant attire sourcing base for U.S. trend corporations, per the USFIA report. Whereas manufacturers and retailers have lowered or intention to scale back China sourcing to low single-digit percentages this yr and past, per the report, a number of different nations within the continent have develop into more and more enticing, together with Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia.
“Moreover, in comparison with key Asian suppliers, U.S. home suppliers have been typically seen as lagging in product range, agility, flexibility, and vertical integration — the precise components which are more and more very important for U.S. trend corporations navigating at this time’s unsure commerce atmosphere,” Lu mentioned.
As Lu famous, the state of U.S. textile manufacturing stays a serious barrier to home sourcing. Between January and July, U.S. manufacturing of textiles similar to fibers, yarns and materials, decreased 6.2% whereas U.S. attire manufacturing fell by 4.3%, Lu mentioned.
“In different phrases, no proof exhibits that climbing tariffs has benefited U.S. home textile and attire manufacturing,” Lu added.
In flip, the shrinking pool of total sourcing has hindered orders for U.S.-based producers, which account for lower than 10% of a typical trend firm’s sourcing footprint, he mentioned. U.S. yarn and cloth exports to buying and selling companions within the Western Hemisphere, together with Mexico and members of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Commerce Settlement, dropped between 8% to 10% within the first 5 months of the yr. Because of this garment exports from these nations — which use U.S.-origin textiles — have slowed.
Extra challenges exist for U.S. trend manufacturers trying to supply sustainably from home suppliers. Though most corporations are more likely to supply clothes made with sustainable textiles within the U.S., together with recycled, natural or regenerative supplies, new infrastructure investments are nonetheless wanted to up manufacturing capability, Lu mentioned.
“To actually assist ‘Made within the USA,’ U.S. commerce coverage must transcend punitive tariffs and give attention to long-term methods that encourage innovation and funding at dwelling,” Lu mentioned.
Persistent uncertainty
Given commerce coverage uncertainty, many home factories are in “wait and see” mode and refraining from investing in the kind of manufacturing growth tasks wanted to develop manufacturing capability within the U.S., Mexico and CAFTA-DR nations, in line with Lu. Therein lies the problem, as manufacturers have restricted management over what and the place suppliers produce supplies.
“It truly is as much as the provider and vendor to resolve they’re going to maneuver operations or open up new operations,” Beth Hughes, American Attire and Footwear Affiliation VP of commerce and customs coverage, advised Provide Chain Dive.
Hughes mentioned that manufacturing facility house owners gained’t construct new services or improve product traces if contracts aren’t in place. Additional, manufacturers and retailers will hesitate to decide to a long-term contract if they’ll’t see completed merchandise or anticipate commerce coverage shifts.
In the meantime, traders have usually been in a position to construct up infrastructure in Asia quite a bit sooner than within the Western Hemisphere, Hughes mentioned. Nonetheless, she added that some Asia-based suppliers and distributors have been making the transfer to Central America.
Labor additionally presents a hurdle for home sourcing, Hughes mentioned. The workforce to assist expanded home sourcing wouldn’t solely require particular technical abilities however would have to be “prepared to do this type of job.”
General, the U.S. lacks the infrastructure to spice up home sourcing capabilities, Hughes mentioned. Regardless of some efforts from manufacturers and retailers, most garments and footwear are imported. Though which may change, Hughes mentioned it will take a “lot of capital; numerous time.”
