Key Takeaways
• Counselor Top 40 supplier SanMar (asi/84863) and other apparel firms are moving production from China to countries with lower tariffs, such as Honduras, Vietnam, India and Mexico, in response to escalating U.S. tariffs under President Trump.
• Total U.S. apparel imports from China have been steadily decreasing since a 2015 peak, falling by nearly 20% as companies diversify sourcing to Central America and Southeast Asia.
• While some firms, like Royal Apparel (asi/83731), have seen growth from their U.S.-made products, the apparel industry overall faces obstacles to reshoring due to high labor costs, a limited domestic textile base and a lack of available workers.
Shortly after President Donald Trump first unveiled his reciprocal tariffs in early April, SanMar (asi/84863) CEO and Counselor Power 50 member Jeremy Lott announced that the WA-based apparel company would shift production away from high-tariffed countries to regions with lower rates, like Honduras, where it already produces two of its T-shirt brands.
The Counselor Top 40 supplier is one of many apparel companies that’s been geographically broadening its supply chain in the last decade – a move heightened by Trump’s sweeping second-term trade policy.
Promo suppliers say they’ve moved production out of the country in recent years and anticipate increasing imports from countries such as Vietnam, India and Mexico, according to ASI Research.
Read the full report at ASI Central.
