The Textile And Clothing Industry : How Does International Trade Affect Economic Well Being?

The book Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli is about the journey of a plain cotton shirt internationally through the economy. This book consists of a plain, cheap t-shirt bought at Wal-Mart, is split into four important parts. The first part is about the source of the t-shirt: cotton. The second part is about the creation process the t-shirt goes through while being created in China. The third part is consists of explaining what happens after the t-shirt goes to the United States and faces the American protectionist policies. Lastly, the fourth essential part of this t-shirt is what happens to the shirt when it is finished in America (or other developed nations).

The international trade sector of the U.S. economy continues to draw attention in economic and political circles. It is true that, the international market has become increasingly important as a source of demand for U.S. production and a source of supply for U.S. consumption. Indeed, it is substantially more important than is implied by the usual measures that relate the size of the international sector to the overall economy. This paper explores the role international trade now plays in the U.S. economy and answers the important questions for economic policy: How does international trade affect economic well-being? Who gains and who loses from free

1. A representative of the American clothing industry recently made the following statement: “Workers in Asia often work in sweatshop conditions earning only pennies an hour. American workers are more productive and as a result earn higher wages. In order to preserve the dignity of the American workplace, the government should enact legislation banning imports of low-wage Asian clothing.” Answer the following: (10 points)

• The enormous surplus of labor in China imperils workers worldwide as international competition puts incessant downward pressure on wages and working conditions, leading the apparel and textile industries to favor the cheapest and most Draconian producers.

If the government enacted a special tax on imported clothing making the selling price equal to the selling price of clothing made in the United States, shoppers would see imported items with much higher prices in discount stores. If the prices of clothing made in sweatshops and in the United States were comparative, shoppers would consider the trade-offs and opt to buy clothing made in the United States for higher quality, loyalty to United States workers, and the health of our economy (Mankiw, 2011, p. 4). Wal-Mart and “big-box” stores that sell so many imported clothing items would see a decrease in sales. Shoppers would choose to buy clothing at stores that sell clothing made in the United States. These stores would see an increase in sales.

Although the United States’ trade with China seems beneficial, trade with China, a country which does not care for even its own people, might be a bad decision. The country of China has much lower standards for human rights, meaning that they also have little regard for the wellbeing of people from other countries. Furthermore, China does not permit freedom of speech for its citizens, who have little way of pronouncing their dissatisfaction over political or other matters. Finally, to a certain point, the Chinese people are restricted of their religious rights. Although the U.S. believes that trade with China is beneficial for both parties, commerce with China, whose government has low standards for human rights, particularly those

Although globalization allows for most products to be produced at a more efficient rate, it also has the capability to mar the economies of municipalities in first world countries. In Pietra Rivoli’s book The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, she discusses the different viewpoints of opposing sides of an on-going battle to reduce the amount of tariffs and quotas put on the textile industries of foreign countries. For decades the textile industry in America has been on a noticeable decline, with outsourcing to third-world countries to blame. Although both faction’s viewpoints on the benefits of such outsourcing, both realize that there is only one way to gain the results they seek; which is to petition to the congressmen, including high ranking officials such as the president, in Washington D.C.

The relevance of this book can be measured by its ability to speak to the everyday individual, who may or may not know anything about economics, and plant the seed toward global economic education. It provides a keen social awareness to people who may or may not ordinarily care about international economics and can have an eye-opening effect toward what really happens in the textile industry.

China is facing difficulties both inside and outside. Since China cannot regain its advantages, the only choice is transiting away from low-end manufacturing. The days of cheap, endless labor is limited, but has not ended. China still has time to invest in research, design and development and train skilled workers to create China’s own high-tech products and brands. If China could relax the One-Child Policy and invest more on children’s education, Chinese manufacturers could have more skilled workers to innovate and produce their high-tech products. China’s manufacturing is at a

Although the Chinese apparel manufacturers would lose profitability due to rising cotton prices and competition from emerging countries, they stand to gain the most from the removal of U.S. quotas and tariffs. According to the author, in 2007, 95% of the 20 billion garments Americans made were purchased overseas. Due to U.S. trade barriers, China’s share of the U.S. apparel import was only 30%. Once these barriers were removed, Chinese apparel would flood the American market due to their low cost and dominance in garment manufacturing. Experts predict that China could eventually supply 85% of U.S. apparel. As they increase their market share in the

Throughout the past decade, China has been an engaging end for worldwide enterprises because of its low pay rates, however China is still unable to carry out the guidelines for international labor laws. Regardless of the insufficiencies of Chinese law, the legislature now permits strikes. (AFL-CIO 2016) The minimum wage approved by law rates might consider the particular exchanges of a each state, and diverse the lowest pay permitted by law rates might be settled for regions with different financial progress levels and for various exchanges. (Lehman, Lee & Xu November 24, 1993) Therefore, Chinese wages are rising. This is something worth being thankful in both Chinese working families and for laborers in different nations that compete with China in the clothing industry. (AFL-CIO 2016) This shows that even though China is not yet following labor laws for the wages dispersed to their workers, they are continuously improving. Clothing manufacturing consists of more than just

I think it also works to undo the notions that China was stealing away all our jobs in the apparel arena, because despite the complex protectionist measures taken, America still lost lots of jobs in the textile industry. The author points out that this is because of technology, and that when it really comes down to it, China is losing their textile jobs at a rate faster than the U.S. did (142). She also goes over some of the unintended consequences of the measures such as increased material costs as a result of the increased import barrier (142). She also suggests in this section as an alternative to erecting trade barriers, to instead compensate workers of the losing industries, known as the compensation principle (151). Lastly, with the lift of the measures and quotas by 2005, there will be a new surge in Chinese goods to America, as illustrated in figure 9.1, page 167. China’s percent increase after release from the quotas will measure some 900%.

The U.S. trade deficit has risen more or less steadily since 1992. In the second quarter of 2004, the trade deficit relative to GDP surpassed the 5 percent mark for the first time. Many economists already considered trade deficits above 4 percent of GDP dangerously high. The fear is that continued growth in this external imbalance of the U.S. economy will ultimately spook overseas investors. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/09/b193700.html

Since World War II, International trade has gained a rapidly increasing speed due to sustained and high-speed economic development in the world. In other words, countries’ degrees of openness and total volumes of import and export have enormously increased. In this paper, I will focus on the effects of accession to the WTO on textile trade between China and U.S, test comparative advantage theory (the main idea is that, under some conditions, when two countries start free trade, a country will produce and export the good which is in comparative advantage due to lower opportunity cost). Because of textile industries’ labor-intensive property, as the country with the largest amount of labor force, China is likely to have a comparative advantage in textile production. Therefore, it can be reasonable to conjecture that an increase in China’s export of textiles would occur after trade barrier eliminations on account of its WTO membership. In order to test my predictions, I will use regression analysis to test several variables such as Balassa Index (measure comparative advantages), Openness Index and total volume of textiles trade, then explore whether the WTO membership influences textile trade between these two countries.

Faruqui, M. (2014, July). Nobody can beat Bangladesh in price and quality. Retrieved from http://www.textiletoday.com.bd/magazine/873