U. S. Apparel Industry in the Age of Globalization

Abstract

During the 1970s and 80s, the United States experienced the upsurge of low-priced apparel imports from Asian NIEs. This inflow caused a sharp decline of the share of apparel products made in U. S. Although in a serious condition on the national basis, Los Angeles apparel industry and New York apparel industry, which have been two major production centers, have lead to remarkably different situations: the former to a huge growth, and the latter to a stagnation. This contrast reflects the full-fledged progress of globalization, which U. S. apparel industry itself has developed. The expansion of apparel production in Asian NIEs after the early 1970s was mainly engendered by U. S. apparel retailers. This accelerated the growth of textile and fiber industries there, which supplied their products to the apparel sector, as well as the shift of apparel production from U. S. to Asian NIEs. At the exact moment, however, many Los Angeles-based apparel manufacturers have gotten their competitive strength by shifting labor-intensive parts of production process to maquiladoras in northern Mexican borderland neighboring southern California. This strategy also helped to asssure the survival of both textile and fiber industries, which had close ties with the local apparel industry. On the other hand, almost at the same time, New York apparel industry was forced to retreat from price-competitive sectors, and to make only expensive, high-fashion products, owing to its labor shortage and increasing labor costs. A part of runaway shops were said to have moved from New York to northern Mexican borderland. The development of two types of globalization, one by U. S. retailers on Asian NIEs and the other by Los Angeles-based apparel manufacturers on Mexican maquiladoras, can never be fully understood within the framework of the national economy. Although I cannot decide whether the paradigm of 'new international division' will be changed by the specific production strategy, which was adopted by some Los Angeles-based apparel manufactures, this specific division will surely provide some important clues especially for solving the problems of sweatshops in U. S., one of the most advanced countries.