There's not much in the way of apparel or apparel fabric still made in the States - at least not by historic standards.

First ('80s) there was NAFTA that allowed Canadian apparel manufacturers - who were already buying offshore fabric and not paying duty - to sell into the US with a 30% advantage on better apparel fabric duty, and a declining US import duty from 10% to zero % over 5 years or so. That was the first big shot at American professional apparel and led to big growth in Canadian companies like Samuelson and Peerless.

Next, there was the Mexico movement - some American companies moved there and others imported Mexican wares..... didn't work so well, but took its toll on American industry.

Next up was the Carribean Basin initiative - mostly sportswear, but still it amounted to another reduction in the American manufacturing base.

Eastern Europe followed with their junk and later there was a mostly failed attempt to import from Sub-Sahara Africa.

Then the Big Kahuna of the Near and Far East showed up and it was all over.

Reality had set in and folks realized that sewing machines will work in any country that has electricity. The once powerful American apparel industry was gone - and along with it, more jobs than you can imagine.

The benefit, of course, was the reduction in the prices paid - and demanded - by the American consumer..... so they could pay less for clothing, and still afford all those newfangled electronic gadgets that were also being sold to us by Asian manufacturers..... the old double whammy.

Of course, without all of these cheap imports, we would not have been able to keep inflation in check - and we'd all be making 2 or 3 times what we now make..... only we'd be paying 2-3 times more for many things.... as with oil products today.

The big problem I see now is that we've hit the end of the line in price-lowering through imports - that game is over. Now we see the next reality of the inevitable inflationary buy now-pay later scene being played out with the coming increase in minimum wage.

We never learn.

Frank