Subsidize Textile Production--Jobs

[yellowwood]

I can't think of any area of manufacture that could produce more jobs than the textile industry. When I can't even buy a t-shirt that's made in the U. S., I realize how much of our clothing is imported.
Think of the breadth of it. From growing the cotton, flax, etc. to the assembly of garments, many many people would gain employment, and they wouldn't all have to be highly educated.

[eilen]

1. Bring cotton mills back to the US!

We literally have no cotton mills left. Also legalizing hemp fiber production in the US and setting up mills to make the fabric .... Bamboo too...

[yellowwood]

6. Cheaper

This industry would be a lot cheaper to support than many other products, like corn.

[Ineeda]

2. I have a friend who worked in textile

in North Carolina, formerly a big textile center. My friend was the comptroller of a big company that dealt with both fine garments and low-end, every day stuff that was their 'bread and butter'. Heralding the end, first ALL the fibers were imported, not just the specialty fibers like cashmere. Then the manufacturing was exported. The number one cause of the decimation of the American textile industry was...wait for it...Wal Mart. They dictated the price they would pay for any given garment, and if the textile company wanted to do business with the most humongous company on the planet, they had to comply. As it turned out, no matter how accommodating the American companies were, it was not cheap enough for Wal Mart. So the American companies were, literally, driven out of business.

So, I agree that subsidizing textile companies would be good for producing jobs, I don't know how they would get around the stranglehold that Wal Mart has. I think high tariffs on all imported goods is the answer. Take away the competitive edge of imports and level the playing field.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. As one who loves to sew and finds it virtually impossible

anymore to find fabrics/notions made in the U.S.A., I wholeheartedly agree! I would absolutely pay more for GOOD, WELL-MADE PRODUCT (this is the absolute key), made in the U.S. by union workers. There IS a market for Made-in-the-U.S.A. I just wish someone with the capital would realize that and invest.

[midnight]

4. K&R

[Tennessee Gal]

5. I agree. We need textiles produced in the US.

In my job we are always looking for new fabrics at reasonable prices. Some fabrics are reasonable and some are astronomical. Only the very wealthiest of clients buy the astronomical.

Yesterday a client/customer paid about $65 per yard for a special order fabric just because she liked it a little better than the fabric we had in stock for about $20 per yard.

I confess, I have not researched where the fabrics are made. I need to do that.

In my profession I noticed a slowing of purchasing customers as the debt ceiling debate was reaching a fever pitch and the possibility of default drew closer. We had a good sales month going in July until the last week or so of the month. August also began very slow. However, yesterday I set a personal best sales day. It is quite interesting that suddenly we had a blowout day in the midst of a slow economy. I cannot explain it.

Sorry for rambling. Just thoughts I have on my mind this morning.

[robcon]

7. Waste of resources. Cost per job will be in the millions.

Maybe some on the board should read Krugman on free trade:
http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/ricardo.htm

[izquierdista]

8. Too late

That horse left the barn decades ago. Here's an interesting photoblog on the fate of the textile mill in Graniteville, SC: http://cityofdust.blogspot.com/2005/01/clearwater-mill-redux.html

Yes, they still grow a lot of cotton in the South, but machines pick and bale it and it gets exported to areas with less expensive labor to spin it into thread, weave or knit it, and then turn that cloth into consumer products that are on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

[yardwork]

9. Health care. If the U.S. provided universal health care coverage our economy would boom.