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1、Trade Liberalization and Patterns of Strategic Adjustment in The US Textiles and Clothing Industry（Partly）The overall environment facing the US TC industry will be one of rapidly changing market conditions and technological innovation. With the phase out of quotas and growing number of trade agreeme
2、nts, the US TC industry is being exposed to intense competition in export and domestic markets. This is likely to lead domestic industries/labor to demand intervention by national governments to mitigate the adverse impact of trade liberalization (Standbury & Vertinksy, 2004).In spite of the substan
3、tial job losses, the US TC industry remains technologically advanced partly due to increased productivity resulting from advances in technology and design capabilities. Textile production is capital intensive and modern technology is essential to meet the increasing for high-quality products. Over t
4、he last few years, US textiles and apparel firms have substantially increased their investment to maintain modern manufacturing facilities as well as improve production and marketing capabilities in order to maximize their inherent advantages to market proximity. In apparel, low skill production job
5、s have moved to low-cost locations offshore while the more skilled ones have been retained. To successfully adapt to the new environment, US TC industries need to capitalize on their sources of competitive advantage. They need to develop a more flexible operational arrangement, meet high standards i
6、n product innovation and generally develop a more change-seeking business culture (Kilduff, 2005).An important survival tool for US TC firms is to expand their potential market by offering new product designs and product categories. Manufacturers must try to bring a steady stream of products to mark
7、et that are in line with the taste, preferences of the consumer. They can also expand their market potential by offering new product categories. Two of the fastest growing apparel segments in the US, for example, have been the womens plus and mens big and tall segments (Driscoll, 2004). Plus-size ap
8、parel marketing was estimated at $47 billion in 2005 accounting for 20% of total apparel market. It is important to identify the firms target customers and assess whether the firm is successfully addressing their needs.US TC firms should target a narrow segment of the market that provides the best o
9、pportunity for success. In textiles, the focus should be on a few specialized segments such as carpets, nonwovens and technical textiles. Similarly, apparel producers should increase their focus on core products, reduce vertical integration to shed overhead costs, and establish alliances with other
10、firms to consolidate resources and increase market share.Finally, in view of rising incomes and high growth rates in many developing countries such as China, Brazil, and India, there are potential export market opportunities for US textile and apparel products. US export interests may be served by s
11、eeking improved access to the retail distribution systems of developing countries. US textile firms should also be able to use Mexico to export to the European Union and other countries, taking advantage of the Mexico-EU trade agreement. Since the conclusion of NAFTA, a number of Asian and European
12、firms have produced certain products in Mexico in order to export to the US market.The lions share of the benefits from quota elimination is expected to accrue to China. Its low labor cost, high productivity, range and flexibility of services as well as efficient supplier networks will make China th
13、e supplier of choice. About 87% of apparel executives that participated in a cotton sourcing summit in Miami in February 2004, agreed that China will soon account for 5090% of all apparel sold in the US market (National Labor Committee, 2004). This means rationalization of production and a massive c
14、onsolidation of vendors. Other winners are likely to include India and Pakistan in narrow segments of the TC industry. The elimination of quotas is also likely to lead to lower prices for consumers in view of the absence of quota costs which is often a significant part of the cost of TC sold in the
15、US market. Well-known brands may still hold market value since they are not subject to retail price deflation. It is important for TC firms to evaluate their internal capabilities such as sourcing, manufacturing, logistics, transportation etc. in order to develop an action plan for the post-quota wo
16、rld. Exporters from Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean are likely to lose market share to China since they largely compete on price (not quality) and lack the capability to produce high value added products. Even with the introduction of safeguards on a range of products that are of export interest to these countries, their US market share has declined since the phase out of quotas. With the complete removal of quotas in 2008, it is difficult for these countries to
