The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) has written to the Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani, and the Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to consider levying a temporary additional COVID duty on all imports of apparel and readymade garments, including on those garments imported from countries with whom India has a Free Trade Agreement, especially Bangladesh.

CMAI has for long been drawing the Government’s attention to the dangers posed by the duty-free imports of garments from Bangladesh, and with it the back-door entry of Chinese fabrics into India - and its consequent impact on the MSME dominated domestic garment industry.

The Government has in several of our discussions and interactions pointed out to the various treaties signed with Bangladesh and other SAFTA countries, and that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to dilute the agreements.

However, CMAI has urged the Government to consider the dramatically changed circumstances prevailing today, in the aftermath of the COVID 19 disaster.

The Indian textile industry has been hit hard by COVID 19 that has impacted exports as well as sales of apparel products in the domestic market. Based on a recent study done by CMAI, it is estimated that there will be more than 40 per cent drop in domestic demand of apparel due to the lockdown and the reduced demand as a result of COVID-19. It is also estimated that more than 20 per cent of the domestic units may face closure, being unable to survive the current crisis. The reduction in demand and revenue levels will lead to downsizing of operations, closure of units and job losses in Indian textile & apparel industry to the tune of 1 crore across the entire Textile Value chain.

In this situation, it is important to think of innovative ideas and policies to support the industry to survive in the immediate term.

With this in view, CMAI has urged the textiles ministry to levy such a duty on imports of garments and fabrics from all countries. Such a duty will result in a level playing field for the domestic manufacturers, and help them compete with the Bangladesh Garment Industry, which has currently at least 15 per cent cheaper production cost.

This will have great positive impact on the domestic industry and will result in the quick recovery of hundreds of MSMEs who are today on the verge of collapse, and the possible savings of hundreds of $100 – 150 million for its fight against COVID 19 (depending on the quantum of Duty imposed). Being fully cognisant of the Government’s constraints, CMAI has suggested that such a measure may be undertaken only for a limited period of time of 12 months, after which we can go back to our current agreements in force.

Latest WTO Goods Trade Barometer reveals the volume of world merchandise trade is likely to fall precipitously in the first half of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts the global economy. The index currently stands at 87.6, far below the baseline value of 100.

The current reading on the barometer captures the initial phases of the COVID-19 outbreak, and shows no sign of the trade decline bottoming out yet. All of the barometer's components indices are currently well below trend. The automotive products index is weakest of all, due to collapsing car production and sales in major economies. The sharp decline in the forward-looking export orders index suggests that trade weakness will persist in the short-run. Similarly, declines in the container shipping and air freight indices reflect weak demand for traded goods as well as supply-side constraints arising from efforts to suppress COVID-show signs of stability, although they too remain below trend.

Trade had already been slowing in 2019 before the pandemic, weighed down by persistent trade tensions and weakening economic growth. WTO trade statistics show that the volume of world merchandise trade shrank by 0.1 per cent in 2019, marking the first annual decline since 2009, during the global financial crisis.

BKMEA has advised the apparel industry to keep its export activities normal to keep the wheel of the economy turning during the COVID-19 crisis. The association has paid its workers 65 per cent of their salary and has also given bonus. According to BKMEA, journalists and law enforcers have been most affected by Covid-19 while carrying duties. It stated that building Nasim Osman Bridge on Shitalakshya River, turning Khanpur Hospital into a medical college, setting up a Knit Palli (knit village) at Shantirchar have remained stalled even after getting permission asthere is no discussion about these.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association or BKMEA is a national trade organization of knitwear manufacturers in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has hailed the extension of moratorium period of term loan for another three months i.e. up to August 31, 2020 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

SIMA says, deferment of interest on working capital, reduction of margin money for working capital and the relaxation of prudential financial norms are welcome features of RBI’s announcement. The extension of permissible period of pre & post-shipment export credits by three months and the time for remittances against normal imports from six months to 12 months would also greatly help the exporters and importers to ease their liquidity.

As international and domestic demand for textiles and clothing is likely to drop by 30 to 40 per cent with the existing lockdown conditions during the current financial year, SIMA also requested the government to allow one time debt restructuring for the textiles and clothing industry, as it would greatly help the mother industry that employs over 105 million people to prevent job losses, sustain the survival, and revive from the unprecedented crisis.

SIMA also urged the Prime Minister to direct all banks to extend the various benefits announced by RBI immediately so that the industry could tide over the COVID-19 crisis.

Crystal International Group has launched ‘Denim Reimagined’ a fully traceable denim collection in collaboration with R Collective, an upcycled fashion brand supported by Levi’s. The upcycled collection aims to reduce the waste and climatic impact of the denim. Jesse Lee designed limited-edition collection that consists of nine upcycled denim piece made by reusing Levi’s old inventory, irregular or leftover samples sewn and unstitched.

The Crystal International’s eco model denim factory in China, Zhongshan Yida Apparel, has restitched and resewed the items into new denim. The digital identity technology by everything in water-soluble and scannable labels, provided by Avery Dennison, makes the collection fully traceable. Customer can get the complete information of the product from farm to retail shelves by scanning the labels of these garments.

Denim manufacturing has a huge impact on the environment starting from the crop cultivation to disposal that generates 33.4 kg CO2-e. The project avoids the need to create a new raw material, thus reducing the harmful environmental impact.

Luxury brands Cartier and United Colors of Benetton have initiated a 'Rainbow Challenge' on the social media as a creative ray of hope and positive pillar across the globe.United Colors of Benetton, which is known for its colorful outfits, is sending out the message of unity through its posts on Instagram featuring rainbow-inspired collection. The brand has posted pictures of its stores in Italy and other places with a rainbow overhead to celebrate its re-opening after being closed for months due to the lockdown.

Meanwhile Cartier has posted a picture of the Cartier building with rainbow shade in solidarity of the National Health Service of the UK and the healthcare workers who are at the forefront of the global battle against the pandemic COVID-19. Louis Vuitton has also posted several pictures and videos that depict its interpretation of the seven colours. The French fashion house posted an animated video in which it has defined rainbow as ‘a stretch of the imagination.’

Another of its videos features pictures of rainbows painted by the children of Louis Vuitton''s employees. The caption reads: "A symbol of hope. Rainbows drawn by the children of #LouisVuitton employees have appeared across store windows worldwide as colourful beacons of joy during these challenging times."

It also posted a picture of Maison Louis Vuitton, Milano, Italy with rainbows drawn of its entry to celebrate the opening of its store.

Data analytics company GlobaData says, e-commerce is playing a critical role in the fight against COVID-19 as online retailers are experiencing a flood of orders from customers confined to their homes. This view was expressed in the company’s recently-released report ‘COVID-19 Impact on E-commerce.’

The report states, even the most skeptical consumers are forced to abandon physical stores in response to restrictions on movement. Supermarkets are experiencing unprecedented demand for home grocery delivery and the UK online food and grocery market is expected to grow by nearly 20 per cent in 2020 to £13.2 billion. However, social distancing measures have dealt a significant blow to clothing and footwear retailers. GlobalData forecasts a 7.9 per cent drop in online sales from 2019 levels. However, online retailers will still be able to grab market share from their high street rivals as they will focus on technologies such as the cloud, 5G, IoT, and blockchain to improve their efficiency and robustness. Ecommerce will also help worst effected companies to build momentum once more once lockdown restrictions have been lifted.

Albini Group, best known as a dress shirt fabric supplier to companies including Kering, Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Prada, has developed new ViroFormula fabrics, in collaboration with Swiss textile innovation firm HeiQ that can destroy COVID-19 a few minutes after contact.

The antiviral fabrics have the same look and feel of its other luxury materials, and it has already received orders from leading luxury firms, though it declined to name them. The technology, developed by Albini and HeiQ, works by targeting the fatty chromosomes that surround viruses when they touch the fabric, destroying them within a matter of minutes. The most significant drawback is impermanence. The HeiQ tests show the solution will be deactivated after 30 washes, though Tamburini hopes to develop a means of retreating clothing to restore the antiviral properties when necessary.

Antibacterial treatment of clothing was already relatively widespread before the Covid-19 outbreak, marketed as a way consumers could critically reduce the frequency of washing their clothes but the pandemic has hastened demand for its protective qualities. Albini is the first major luxury fashion player to enter this sphere, with Grado in India and Sonovia in Israel among the firms now also marketing similar treatments for clothing.

To counter falling sales, Asics has increased its focus on digital sales and also sped up its planned development of products in China to capitalize on an expected rebound as stores around the world reopen. The brand also reduced its spending on marketing.

In North America, the company increased the discount for health-care workers and first responders to 60 percent and also provided free access to its Asics Studio app, allowing all consumers to utilize its library of at-home workouts. The brand is also partnering with its retail partners to provide shoe donations to front-line workers as well as T-shirts for screen-printing and fund-raising efforts.

In the first quarter ended March 31, the overall sales of Asics North America dropped by 18.4 percent year-over-year, with sales in Mexico declining by 10 percent and while those in Canada falling by 5.5 percent. In the US market, the brand also saw a 14.2 percent decrease in performance running product.

For the corporation as a whole, the operating loss in the first quarter was 882 million yen, or $8.2 million, compared with operating income of 6.2 billion yen in last year’s first quarter. Net sales fell 13.5 percent to 85.3 billion yen, or $793.4 million, from 98.7 billion yen in the first quarter of 2019. However, the brand’s e-commerce sales jumped by 60 percent in the period.

By category, Asics’ performance running sales declined by 11.5 percent to 38 billion yen from 43 billion yen in the first quarter of last year, with operating income falling 87 percent to 239 million from 1.8 billion yen last year.

BGMEA plans to blacklist British clothing retailer Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) in Bangladesh for not paying suppliers. According to BGMEA, EWM has so far cancelled work orders worth $8.2 million in Bangladesh due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

EWM's affiliates, including the brands and retailers Peacock, Jaeger, Austin Reed, Jacque Vert, Country Casuals, Windsmoor, Baumler of Germany, Bonmarche, Ponden Home, and various agents, importers, full service vendors and other third parties which have been working indirectly and/or directly with each of these companies and brands, are also under threat of being blacklisted, Huq said in the letter to Philip Day.

BGMEA has stated that until pending issues are settled and agreed, the associations will not issue any new Utilisation Declarations to its members for any order of EWM, which includes all its affiliates and associates. Similarly, BEPZA may also withhold issuance of Export Processing.

BGMEA had earlier requested EWM to comply with the requirements and settle all outstanding dues as prescribed, adding that it would blacklist and place an embargo on the retailer and its agents otherwise.