Tariff tales of woe at textile expo

American textile and apparel companies are taking a wait-and-see approach to business with their Chinese partners amid the US-China trade dispute.

"Because the US consumers won't want to pay more, we needed to source our products to make sure that we are competitive in the market, so we had to slow down our business with China," said Joey Baxter, an importer and manufacturer for the dress brand JAX in New York.

Baxter spoke with China Daily during the 2019 Texworld USA, Apparel Sourcing USA and Home Textiles Sourcing Expo, which started Monday and will conclude on Wednesday, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York,

"I think the trade deficit with China and the US is going to be resolved eventually," Baxter said. "Unfortunately, it's taking longer than expected."

"We are very much against the trade barriers," said Detlef Braun, a member of the executive board of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, organizer of the expo. "We are here for free trade; we are against protectionism," he said.

He said Chinese textile companies have had to raise prices due to the tariffs. "Some of the markets are getting unattractive for us, and consequently, the business would be damaged," Braun said.

"So far, the US market is a very attractive market, the demand for Chinese products is still very high, but if these trade tariffs continue to grow, then there could be a certain point where this market is losing attractiveness," he said.

More than 800 textile and apparel companies from 17 countries and regions, including China, the US, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Colombia and Portugal were represented.

From China, 545 textile and garment enterprises from 19 provinces attended as part of the 20th session of the China Textile & Apparel Trade Show.

In April 2018, the US announced a list of increased tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods at a rate of 25 percent. Textiles and apparel were not on the list.

But three months later, the US expanded the tariff list to $200 billion worth of Chinese goods at a rate of 10 percent. In May, that tariff was increased to 25 percent.

Among the items listed were more than 1,000 textile and apparel products, such as yarns, fabrics, carpets, industrial textiles and leather. Clothing such as knitwear, woven garments, footwear and home textiles was not included.

Xu Yingxin, vice-chairman of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, said China's exports of textiles to the US has been affected by the tariffs at different levels, and if they continue, China's competitiveness in textile exports would decline, Xu said.

According to the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles, China exported $45.64 billion worth of textiles, apparel and clothing materials to the US in 2017, 16.9 percent of the total export value of textiles and apparel.

According to the US Department of Commerce, in January and February 2018, the US imported 35.8 percent of its textiles and apparel from China. That was a 1.45 percent decrease compared with 2015, while source countries such as Vietnam and India saw increases.

Mark Baker, CEO of Truth of Touch Apparel in New York, has done business with China for almost 20 years, which he described as "very good." But he said the tariffs have added "uncertainty" to the business.

Tanner Evans, owner of an apparel factory in New York, said the current trade friction has slowed business with China.

"A lot of my customers are uncertain what's going to happen with the duties, tariffs. Everybody is scared," he told China Daily. "I think our country and China maybe should come to an agreement so there are more fair trade practices between the two countries."

Gu Chunfang, commercial counselor for the Consulate General of China in New York, said the value of textiles and apparel trade between China and the US increased from $9.95 billion in 2003 to $49.7 billion in 2018.

From 2010 to 2018, the average annual growth of US textile and apparel imports from China was 0.7 percent.

In 2018, China's overall outbound investment in the textile industry slowed, but outbound investment in the US increased 20.7 percent over 2017.

From 2015 to 2018, China's cumulative direct investment in the US reached $214 million.

"Over the past two decades, the cooperation between China and the United States in the textile industry has reached unprecedented depth and breadth," she said.

Xu Yingxin said China's textile industry now is the world's largest in scale and most comprehensive in capacity, covering the whole value chain, from raw materials, R&D, textile processing, apparel manufacturing and operations, and retail.

2018 saw China process 54.6 million tons of fiber, half the world's total, and export $276.73 billion in textiles and apparel, 36 percent of the world total.