Washington, D.C., May 4 (ANI): The United States has issued a stern rebuke of China’s trade practices in the textiles and apparel sector, warning that a pattern of non-market policies is severely undermining American manufacturers. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) highlighted that 28 U.S. textile plants have shut down over the past 22 months, underscoring the growing strain on domestic industry.
In a post commemorating National Textile Day, the USTR wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“USTR is calling out the unfair trade practices undercutting the American textiles and apparel sector. China’s non-market policies and practices in the textiles and apparel sector provide unfair competitive advantages to its domestic manufacturers by enabling them to charge artificially low prices for their products. U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers have been negatively impacted, with 28 U.S. plants closing in the past 22 months.”
According to the USTR, the United States imported $79.3 billion worth of apparel in 2024, with 21 percent of those imports coming from China. A significant portion of these goods enter the country through de minimis shipments—small, individual packages valued under a certain threshold that are not subject to regular tariffs or customs checks.
In a follow-up post, the USTR added:
“Chinese e-commerce companies accounted for over 30% of all daily de minimis shipments into the United States, flooding our market with cheap apparel products while bypassing tariffs and evading trade enforcement mechanisms. The influx of cheap apparel has decimated local industries, particularly in the Southeast United States.”
The trade imbalance with China continues to widen, further aggravating tensions between the two economic superpowers. In 2024, the total value of U.S. goods trade with China was estimated at $582.4 billion. U.S. exports to China were $143.5 billion—a 2.9 percent decline ($4.2 billion) from 2023. In contrast, U.S. imports from China rose by 2.8 percent ($12.1 billion) to reach $438.9 billion.
As a result, the U.S. goods trade deficit with China reached $295.4 billion in 2024, marking a 5.8 percent increase ($16.3 billion) over the previous year.
The Biden administration has consistently emphasized the importance of fair trade practices and has signaled that it will take further steps to support American workers and industries facing unfair competition from abroad. The USTR’s latest statements suggest a renewed focus on addressing these imbalances through enforcement actions and potential policy reforms.
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