The president said he was not trying to increase production of shirts, socks and other clothing.
President Donald Trump said on May 25 that his tariff policy plan was designed to enhance US military and technology production rather than apparel.
Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said at a White House news briefing that the administration focused on “work of the future, not on past work.”
“We don’t necessarily have to have a vibrant textile industry,” Bescent told reporters. “But we have precision manufacturing and we want to get it back.”
Trump reflected these comments over the weekend.
Before boarding the Air Force in New Jersey on May 25, the president agreed with Bessent that the US economy would not need to increase production of sneakers and t-shirts.
“We want to build military equipment. We want to build something big,” Trump said.
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“To be honest, I’m not going to make t-shirts. I’m not going to make socks. I can do that elsewhere. I want to do a lot of other things, chips, computers, and tanks and ships.”
In a series of posts on Social Media Platform X, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said the US cannot impose tariffs that way “to increase the scale made from American clothing.”
“This is the most tariff industry in the United States, so more tariffs won’t bring back more production. They just make our wardrobe more expensive. Now it’s time to reduce fashion tariffs!”
Since returning to the White House, the president has taxed a wide range of products and countries around the world. The aim is to boost domestic manufacturing, with scores for US and foreign companies pledging trillions of dollars in private investment over the past few months.
Last week, Trump said that unless Tech Titan returns iPhone production to the US, it would impose a 25% tax on Apple.
“I have informed Tim Cook a long time ago that I expect the iPhones for sale in the United States to be manufactured and built in the United States, not in India or elsewhere,” the president said in the Truth Social Post on May 23.
He also extended the warning to other smartphone makers, including Samsung.
The US maintains a presence in small smartphone manufacturing, but is limited compared to other foreign markets such as China, India and Vietnam. Millions of smartphones are shipped to the US each year, with Apple and Samsung making up a large portion of their sales.
The president’s latest statement comes when he pushed the June 1 deadline for tariffs on 50% of European Union goods until July 9th, allowing trade negotiations between the US and EU officials.
European stock markets rose following a delay led by German DAX, which rose about 1.5% on May 26th.
Sneakers made in the USA
The domestic apparel industry has changed dramatically following the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
In 1991, the US produced 56% of the apparel purchased domestically, with about 900,000 people employed in the industry. Today, less than 3% of apparel purchased in the US is produced domestically, with around 84,000 apparel manufacturing jobs remaining.
Workers produce clothing at a textile factory that supplies clothing to Shein, a first fashion e-commerce company in Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province, China, on June 11, 2024. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images
NAFTA helped start trending. The trade contract eliminated tariffs on apparel and textiles traded between the three North American economies that strengthened US yarn exports. However, many US textile companies have moved production to Mexico to take advantage of lower labor costs.
Over the past 20 years, a significant share of textile production has moved to China after the country joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Offshoring and outsourcing are accelerating, with US companies taking advantage of cost savings. Beijing then advanced a comprehensive, highly integrated supply chain network that was used by US and European companies to make profits.
Products made in China account for around 40% of US apparel and accessories imports.
But while Trump and Bescent have not expressed their desire to restore the 1991 figures, the office of the US trade representative says it is not impossible to reuse production of refill equipment.
“The revival of apparel in America is not a dream,” the office of the US trade representative said in the X-Post on May 3. “Made in America” is the administration’s economic and national security priorities. ”
The Epoch Times contacted the National Textile Organization Council for comment.
AI and tanks
The president is open about plans to make the United States a world leader in artificial intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently praised the president’s efforts.
“The President hopes that American technology will win against Nvidia and American companies, sell chips around the world, and generate revenue, tax revenue, US investment and construction,” he said at a Swedish event on May 24th.
“We have manufacturing in the US, supply chain protection, true resilience, redundancy and diversity in our manufacturing supply chain.
When it comes to military manufacturing, the United States is already the world’s largest arms exporter.
Direct military sales by US companies totaled nearly $20 billion, while sales arranged by the federal government rose to about $118 billion.
Reuters contributed to this report.
