Resurrected U.S. Textile Industry: High Technology, Low Cost

A study shows that the potential competitiveness of the U.S. textile manufacturing industry is increasing rapidly. Textile media around the world have discovered that the U.S. textile industry is reborn in another form, that is, high technology and low cost. The United States originally did not have an advantage in the field of spinning, but as world fiber prices soared, this gave the American textile industry an opportunity to come back to life.
Since China joined the WTO, the U.S. textile industry has been on a downward trend, while China has been on an upward trend. Take the open-end spinning machine as an example. China introduces this kind of spinning equipment almost every year. From joining the WTO to 2009, China’s textile output increased more than 10 times. The number of looms introduced in China is also closely followed, and China has undoubtedly become the world’s largest textile producer. The textile production of other countries, especially developed countries, is deteriorating. This is how the textile industry developed in the past.
As early as 2003, the United States had become one of the countries with the highest ring spinning costs in the world, and the production cost of open-end spinning was no exception. Therefore, a large number of American factories had to close and cease production. Since then, the cost advantage of the United States has been completely lost. It has been surpassed by Turkey, China, and Brazil and left far behind. After 2010, another situation began to emerge. According to ITMF survey data, due to the continued depreciation of the U.S. dollar, rising raw material prices, energy prices, labor prices, emissions and other costs, the U.S. textile industry has completely lost its competitiveness. The only advantage the United States has is raw cotton production. From 2010 to 2011, the rise in cotton prices brought a glimmer of hope to its homeland because the price of raw cotton output from raw cotton-producing countries doubled. This has led to skyrocketing prices of textile products in producing countries. At the same time, labor and energy prices in major textile countries like China have also begun to skyrocket.
Hamilton Company, the largest textile market consulting company in the United States, suddenly discovered that the U.S. textile industry is currently taking a turn for the worse. The United States not only has the advantage of raw cotton, but also has labor and energy prices that are far lower than other major textile countries. This is why since 2014, textile companies from major textile countries such as India and China have begun to move to the United States. Not only do they want a share of the latest high-tech cake, but the cost advantages of producing in the United States are obvious.
As a result, the U.S. textile industry is experiencing a phoenix rebirth. This year, for example, U.S. companies have launched a range of high-tech textiles and clothing. Malden Textile Company in the United States has developed a fabric that can automatically generate heat using a microfiber and lithium battery; Strauss Company has launched jeans with sweat-wicking and stain-removing functions; Northfield Company has launched a small lithium battery for Energy’s high-tech jacket, the temperature of the clothes can be adjusted with a regulator; Hanes will launch in July anti-fat plastic tights made of tea leaves and concentrated grapefruit capsules woven into the clothing; MIT Institute of Military Nanotechnology It is also planned to develop soldier uniforms that can be bulletproof, anti-gas, self-healing, and change colors according to the on-site environment. At present, the U.S. high-tech textile industry is emerging with a new face and gradually gaining global cost competitiveness. The price of its technological products is very low, and the price of ordinary multi-functional clothing is not much higher than the price of traditional clothing produced in China. It will take many years before big countries like China and India can keep up with the United States in technology.
The American Hamilton Company believes that this may be a good start. New data also shows that the United States not only has new technologies, but also has a good foundation for the textile industry. South Carolina, as the world’s textile technology center, has continuously launched technology patents. This may be why the Indian company Salad Functional Fibers is trying every possible means to locate in South Carolina.