The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) joined eight other business organizations to release “Imports Work for American Workers,” an economic impact study which found that imports support more than 21 million American jobs.

The study focuses on the net impact of imports on US jobs — including statistics on sectors such as retail, apparel, transportation, manufacturing and consumer technology. The study also looks at how imports support jobs in states across the U.S. as well as trade policy initiatives pending before Congress and the administration with the potential to preserve or diminish import-related jobs.

The study finds that imports support more than 21 million American jobs across the country, including a net positive number in every US state. The 10 states accounting for the largest number of import-related jobs are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

Imports from key trading partners — including Canada, China, the European Union and Mexico — support a net positive number of US jobs.

Import-related jobs are good jobs that pay competitive wages. Nearly 8 million of the jobs related to importing are held by minorities and 2.5 million jobs are held by workers represented by unions.

The vast majority (96 percent) of companies who import are small or medium-sized businesses. US trade policies, many now pending before Congress and the administration, have the potential to either support or hurt these jobs.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association, the American Chemistry Council, the Consumer Technology Association, the National Foreign Trade Council, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Fashion Industry Association and the U.S. Global Value Chain Coalition commissioned the study, which was prepared by Laura M. Baughman and Dr. Joseph F. Francois of Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC.

The study is being released during ‘World Trade Week’ as part of ‘World Trade Month’ to highlight the essential role that imports play in the U.S. and global economy.

Fast Retailing has criticized the US Customs Department for blocking Uniqlo brand shirts in January saying they violated a ban on cotton products produced in China’s Xinjiang region. Fast Retailing said, Uniqlo uses cotton sourced from sustainable sources only. The brand has mechanisms to identify potential violations of human and workers’ rights.

China has criticized the US move. Zhao Lijian, Foreign Ministry spokesman said, Xinjiang has no forced labor and the US is using bullying tactics. He urged companies to oppose these irrational acts by the US. A US Customs document dated May 10 said a shipment of Uniqlo men's shirts was impounded on January, 5 at the Port of Los Angeles due to a suspected violation of the ban.

To be held in Raleigh from August 23-25, 2021, Techtextil North America will provide visitors with an opportunity to source the latest innovations and supply chain solutions for the technical textiles and nonwovens industries, and see textile products ranging from high-tech fibers, functional apparel fabrics and smart textiles to composites and nonwovens.

The 2021 edition of Techtextil North America will include the first-ever Texprocess Americas pavilion, supported by The Sewn Products Equipment & Suppliers of the Americas (SPESA). It will feature manufacturers and distributors of machinery, equipment, parts, supplies, systems, technology, supply chain solutions, and other products and services used for the development of sewn products. As per Global Textile Source, the pavilion is designed to foster new business opportunities and strategic partnerships between exhibitors and attendees.

In addition to the pavilion, SPESA will once again co-locate its Advancements in Manufacturing Technologies Conference with Techtextil North America in 2021. The conference features presentations and panel discussions from SPESA members about their products. The show will also include the newly added Textile Care Pavilion. Powered by the Clean Show, the pavilion will showcase the latest products & technologies for the textile care sector – from treatment to finishing to after-market care

Fashion for Good has launched the Sorting for Circularity Project to address the challenge of textile recycling. The project brings together key brands and industry leaders from across Europe to conduct a comprehensive textile waste analysis using more accurate, innovative Near Infrared (NIR) technology This research will lead to an open digital platform to match textile waste from sorters with recyclers, enabling their alignment and building an infrastructure towards greater circularity in the years to come.

Funding for the project is being provided by Laudes Foundation and facilitated by brand partners, adidas, Bestseller and Zalando, as well as Inditex as an external partner. Fashion for Good partners Arvind Limited, Birla Cellulose, Levi Strauss & Co, Otto and PVH Corp. are participating as part of the wider working group. Circle Economy leads the creation and implementation of the methodology, with support from Refashion, to assess textile waste composition. The analysis will provide the most representative snapshot of textile waste composition generated in Europe.

Findings from this research will enable sorters to take action through the support of a digital platform that matches their textile waste with recyclers. This open-source platform will bring greater transparency, spark greater harmonization between the industries, and ensure the learnings contribute to foundational change for the industry at large.

BGMEA informed that most RMG factories plan to open in phases and go into full-scale operation within a week. As per Dhaka Tribune, most RMG workers in Bangladesh could not go to their native villages on Eid holidays due to a government ban on travel and unavailability of public transport. However, most owners have not opened their factories as yet. Those that have opened are yet to go into production in full swing as they do not have work orders, adds SM Mannan Kochi, Senior Vice President, BGMEA. Workers are also yet to receive the second set of stimulus packages, he says.

Salauddin Swapan, Acting President, IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC), informs, most factories will start working in full force from next week. Babul Akhter, President, of Bangladesh Industrial and Garment Workers Federation (BIGWF), agrees with this.

US fashion retailer Macy’s, expects net sales for 2021 to grow between 25 and 28 per cent over 2020 to reach between $21.7 billion and $22.2 billion. The company’s e-commerce sales are expected to reach around $8 billion this year. In first quarter, Macy’s witnessed a sales rise of 56 per cent to $4.71 billion. The retailer’s e-commerce sales too rose 34 per cent from the same period in 2020. Macy’s sales surged 63.9 per cent on owned-plus-licensed basis over last year. However, comp sales fell by 10 per cent when compared to 2019.

The retailer’s net income in Q1 shot up by more than 100 per cent to $103 million partly due to pullback on expenses. Sales of women’s apparels increased 29 percentage points and men’s apparels by 13 points. Jeff Gennette, CEO, Macy’s, said the retailer gained from government’s direct relief to consumers and its rapid vaccine distribution across the country.

Kim Glas, CEO, National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) believes, the US can overturn China’s domination in the global textile and apparel market by introducing a new policy to expand production of medical textiles. At a recent US Senate Homeland Security meeting, Glas advised the US government to set up strong domestic procurement rules for federal PPE purchases, and other essential products similar to the Berry Amendment and the Kissell Amendment, and issue long-range contracts to incentivize investment in the domestic PPE manufacturing base.

Glas highlighted the need to create federal incentives for private sector hospitals and large provider networks to purchase US-made PPE. She also urged for the continuation of the Defense Production Act to drum up the industrial base from raw materials to end products for all essential products.

Last year the US employed 530,000 people in the textile supply chain was. The value of shipments for US textiles and apparel was $64.4 billion last year. In addition, U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $25.4 billion.

Bangladesh’s BGMEA has requested member factories to provide updated data on cancelled, withheld and unpaid orders. BGMEA has started collecting this information to determine the current payment and export status. The trade body has developed a web portal to collect information on cancelled, withheld and unpaid orders. It plans to compile the information received so far next week, and decide the next course of actions.

It aims to talk to the buyers individually and also through their forums in this regard, says Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA added. The association has also requested Edinburgh Woolen Mills (EWM) group to provide records of non-payment of export proceeds by its members. The group’s bills remained unsettled for more than a year in cases of some suppliers. Hasan urged the group to settle these dues immediately.

Global leader in specialty chemicals, Archroma has launched whiteness solutions for laundry and detergents. Archroma’s portfolio now includes solutions for whiteness, coloration, stain removal, fabric softening, as well as sequestering agents and surfactants, which can be used in applications such as multipurpose cleaning powders, detergent powders, dish wash tablets and liquids, laundry liquids and fabric softeners, and hard surface cleaners. Its optical brightener Leucophor® 5BMGX is used by reputed US detergent brands and manufacturers as it allows them to achieve high levels of whiteness with a blueish undertone.

In 2019, Archroma acquired in BASF's stilbene-based optical brightening agents (OBA) business for liquid and powder laundry detergent applications. The acquisition included the OBA technology, portfolio and manufacturing unit at Ankleshwar, India. Since then, the company has mobilized its global experts, technologies and know-how, to design a holistic solutions portfolio for household, industrial & institutional cleaning (HI&I) aimed to support detergent manufacturers.

For its fourth quarter ending March 31, 2021, Indo Rama Synthetics India posted a net profit of Rs 128.65 crore as against a loss of Rs 76.17 crore posted durng the quarter ending December 31, 2020.

As per Equity Bulls, the company reported total income of Rs.835.93 crore during the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.620.22 crore during the period ended December 31, 2020.

The company reported EPS of Rs.4.93 for the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.2.92 for the period ended December 31, 2020.

On a yearly basis, Indo Rama posted a net loss of Rs 113.38 crore for the 12 period ended March 31, 2021 as against net profitof Rs.316.54 crorefor the 12 months period ended March 31, 2020.

The company reported total income of Rs.2,063.71crore during the 12 months period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.2127.95 crore during the 12 months period ended March 31, 2020.

The company has reported EPS of Rs.4.34 for the 12 months period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.12.14 for the 12 months period ended March 31, 2020.