Summary Of The 2019 American Fashion Industry Benchmarking Research Report

Recently, the American fashion industry association released the "2019 American fashion industry benchmarking research report". It surveyed the latest strategies of apparel brand retailers and retailers in the field of purchasing and management, and obtained some important findings and findings. The summary of the report is as follows for reference to the vast number of export enterprises to the US.


In the context of the escalating trade tensions and the increasing economic uncertainty in the US and the world, American fashion companies are more conservative in the next five years than in the us a year ago.


The company with "optimism" or "relative optimism" has dropped from 84% in 2018 to 64% this year. Meanwhile, 25% of the companies hold a neutral attitude towards the next five years, and the proportion jumped from 4% in 2018 to 25%.


Despite this, the employment market is still on the rise: 96% of the respondents said they plan to hire more employees in the next five years, and only 1 companies expressed the opposite opinion.


The strategy of "China + Vietnam + other countries" is still the most popular purchase mode. However, the proportion of specific purchases is constantly changing. At the same time, American fashion companies continue to adjust their procurement and procurement categories.


In 2019, the fashion companies interviewed were purchased from 48 countries or regions. Among them, China (100% procurement rate), Vietnam (86% procurement rate) and India (86% procurement rate) ranked the top three. The whole of Asia is still the main source of procurement in the United States.


China is no longer the sole largest supplier of fashion companies in the United States. About 25% of companies said that their purchases from Vietnam will exceed China in 2019, which is a new trend worthy of attention.


Most companies continue to maintain relatively diversified sourcing locations. In 2019, 57.1% of the companies purchased in more than 10 different countries or regions. 82.9% of the companies said they plan to keep the number of sourcing sources unchanged or increase over the next two years. However, due to the needs of different companies, there is a polarized development for increasing or decreasing the number of suppliers. 42.9% of the companies plan to increase the number of suppliers, and 51.4% of the companies plan to reduce the number of suppliers.


In response to China's "301 survey", which affects the purchasing strategy of American fashion companies, they are also concerned about the negative impact of the tension between the US and China on its business.


The trade diversion effect of the "301 survey" has accelerated the reduction of purchases from China by American fashion companies. About 83% of the companies expect to reduce the number of purchases from China in the next two years, an increase from 67% in 2018.


The "301 survey" has pushed up the price of American clothing imports and made the "production and procurement cost increase" the most important challenge facing American buyers in 2019. As many as 63% of the companies expressly stated that the "301 survey" imposed tariffs on China "increased the purchasing cost of the company in 2019". As the company transferred procurement to Bangladesh, Vietnam and India (the three countries are China's major substitutes), the average price of clothing imported from the United States increased by more than 20% from 1-5 in 2019.


There is no evidence that the "301 survey" has brought significant benefits to the US in terms of procurement and local procurement from the Western Hemisphere. On the contrary, the "301 survey" has increased the production cost of "made in the United States" textile and clothing.


If the Sino US economic and trade frictions are further escalated, the US companies say they are unwilling, but may have to raise the retail price.


Despite the continuing economic and trade frictions between China and the United States, China will remain the main supplier of textile and apparel in the United States in the foreseeable future.


* although 83% of the companies expect to reduce procurement from China in the next two years, only 6.7% of the companies expect to substantially reduce purchases from China.


In terms of the wide range of textile and clothing products that can be produced, China has few close competitors.


Taking into account factors such as market reaction speed, procurement cost, flexibility and agility, compliance risks and so on, China is also one of the few sources of "balanced capability" that American companies can choose.


About 50% of the respondents said their cooperative Chinese suppliers were able to cope with the tight trade situation by lowering orders and keeping orders.


As US companies plan to reduce procurement from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh have gained the importance of being the supplier of clothing to the United States.


This year, Vietnam is still the second largest source of procurement for the companies surveyed, and 86% of the companies purchase from Vietnam. However, only about 7% of respondents plan to increase clothing purchases in Vietnam in the next two years, reflecting the company's concerns about Vietnam's limited capacity and procurement costs.


(b) Bangladesh is the sixth largest source of procurement, and the purchase rate of the companies surveyed is 60%. In the next two years, 80% of the companies expressed interest in increasing procurement from the country, a record high. Despite the price advantage, respondents still believe that Bangladesh has low competitiveness in terms of market response speed, flexibility and agility, compliance risks and so on.


American fashion companies are interested in developing new sourcing opportunities at home, but challenges still exist, or incremental growth.


This year, the United States is the tenth largest source of procurement, with a purchasing rate of 43%, the same as in 2018.


The "made in America" clothing is still a niche product in the American brand and retailer's purchasing portfolio. Close to the market and quickly replenish the advantage of the seasonal products is an important factor for the success of "made in the United States" clothing to control the loss of the price.


Problems such as high price, limited fabric selection and skilled labor shortage limit the expansion of American companies' procurement from the US in the next five years.


In addition, the companies surveyed expressed the hope that they would know more about the textile and garment factories in the United States and contribute to the promotion of "made in the United States" procurement.


This year's rising procurement costs have led American fashion companies to reconsider how to use tariff free trade agreements and trade preferences to achieve tariff reductions.


In 2019, the total utilization rate of the us free trade agreement and trade preferences arrangement increased by the companies interviewed, especially the utilization rate of FTA in the Western Hemisphere, such as the Dominica Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the Caribbean Basin trade partner Act (CBTPA) and the Haiti opportunity partnership Promotion Act (HOPE).


43% of the companies indicated that tariff preferences (TPL), commercial availability / shortage list and cumulative rules of origin determination were used in clothing purchase. The companies also indicated that these exceptions in the rules of origin of the yarn increased flexibility and made it more willing to use FTA and purchase from FTA partner countries.


65.5% of the companies want the US Congress to adopt the US Mexico plus free trade agreement (USMCA).


More than half of the companies surveyed explicitly state that NAFTA is important to their business. They hope to make seamless transition from NAFTA to Mexico plus free trade agreement.


In the future, companies purchased from NAFTA countries are more likely to continue to purchase in USMCA countries in the future, and vice versa.


However, about 20% of the companies admit that they do not fully understand the changes in the rules and regulations of the old and new versions of the FTA in terms of textile and apparel.


To help companies better understand the technical details of the US Mexico FTA and reduce the uncertainty of approval is the key factor for the success of the Mexico accord.


How to improve the competitiveness of sub Saharan African countries as a source of clothing sourcing and to make the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) more effective is still a huge challenge.


In 2019, the companies surveyed were purchased from 8 AGOA beneficiaries, but the procurement frequency was far less than that from the Asian region.


It is worrying that the company's enthusiasm for using AGOA and purchasing from sub Saharan Africa is decreasing.


About 45% of companies say they are on the sidelines because of the temporary nature of the AGOA bill.


Despite the lack of interest in direct investment, respondents said that AGOA countries need to increase investment and improve their infrastructure and capacity to enhance their attractiveness.


American apparel companies always maintain high commitment to sustainable development and social responsibility in procurement.


63% of companies say they will invest more resources for sustainable development and social responsibility in the next two years. Another 36% of the companies are expected to remain unchanged.


Nearly 100% of the surveyed companies mark and track their supply chain (that is, keeping the supplier's name, location and function record), up from 90% in 2017. At the same time, the respondents said that "internal budget and staff shortage" is the biggest challenge for them to mark and track the supply chain. In addition, suppliers are unwilling to fully cooperate and share information, suppliers and suppliers too much, and also hamper the challenge of American brands to track their apparel supply chain more comprehensively.


The vast majority (96.2%) of the companies surveyed have passed the factory inspection through the third party certification bodies. This year, 74% of the companies conducted two kinds of factory inspection, including inspection and unannounced visits, in 2018, 63%. Brand and retailer audits of suppliers are more comprehensive than before.