On Dec. 31, the global clothing business embarks on its biggest change in 30 years, scrapping quotas that limit the amount of goods any country can sell to the United States and Europe. Once the quotas are eliminated, retailers such as Wal-Mart and L.L. Bean will be free to buy as many T-shirts, jeans and towels as they want from any factory in the world.
It sounds like a simple concept. But the end of quotas will rock $350 billion worth of global trade, sending tremors through communities from North Carolina to Bangladesh. The U.S. textile and apparel industry, which has lost 355,000 jobs since January 2001, expects to lose tens of thousands more of the remaining 691,000.
The big winners will be consumers, who'll enjoy falling prices, and Chinese manufacturers. China's 16% share of the U.S. clothing market is likely to skyrocket to 50%, according to the World Trade Organization
First, I am a strong advocate of free trade. In the long run this is good news. However, I am also a strong advocate for limiting the human cost of free trade.
There is simply no way for the US to compete with international textiles. As a result, textile jobs are going away. Is anyone doing anything about the human cost of the change? These people need job retraining and financial help for a situation entirely beyond their control. The government could use its power to attract a new industry that pays well to the same area. Is anybody doing that? Is anybody actually preparing for the future?