This week has been nuts to everyone.. its affecting heavily on any manufacturing business done in overseas, but this time feels real weigh on my industry..fashion.
All my friends/peeps are devastated with this kicking of new tariffs. China, has been on the main focus of possible tariffs raise, a lot of companies has been diversifying with other countries(also cost of China kept rising last 10years anyway) like Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, etc
Not expect the new tariffs would hit even harder on these other countries as well!!
This would definitely heavy hit on all our works were doing, but also would affect our future jobs/opportunity.
Worrying about possible resession for real now, already hearing about hiring freeze, and possible layoffs. (Iāve been looking for new job last 6mths..) already the salaryās been gone down, but possible no jobs with hiring freeze, worrying about the stability of the jobs holding now as well.
Howās everyone feeling and seeing this craziness going on?
@grandpoobah what are you foreseeing upcoming job market and our industry?
Anyone here from the Home Fashions side of the Textile Industry? How are you navigating the situation? So many home stores have folded that I donāt know how the surviving retailers can move forword without raising prices and I donāt know how people will be able to pay higher prices when they are paying more for essentials.
Can we make textile products here again? I havenāt seen any solutions to this crisis
this wonāt affect those high level CEOs thoughā¦I can see more entry level or low hourly jobs getting posted. no fix just bandaids
A lot of CEO bonuses are based on their stock price. This is definitely impacting the C-Suite. 
Upcoming job market? If this tells you anything, we are having the worst time trying to sell our career fair (April 24th). Even companies that have open positions are worried about the optics of exhibiting during such a tumultuous time.
Salaries have been flat since 2008 with a little bump after the lockdowns ended.
As for the tariffs, I think everything will be back to normal in a few months. There is actually a really good chance that our industry will be one of the big winners from this ordeal. Why? Vietnam, Taiwan and I think Cambodia have all agreed to 0% reciprocal tariffs on US goods. Pakistan and India have both signaled a similar response. If these things happen, US companies that import from these countries will pay 0% in tariffs. With India production, thatāll save between about 6% and 12% on most apparel products. For Pakistan, the range is 5% to 25% on sewn products.
Ultimately, I think using tariffs to negotiate better and fairer rates will be a big good for our industry and the country. The tough part will be dealing with all of the uncertainty until these new trade practices are adopted.
Yeah my job uses Pakistan mainly and itās 25% from the conversation right now itās a matter of how it effects current orders that went in and our customers who purchased right before these hit.
Iām part-time in my position and while I was promised a full-time role, this most likely will keep me part time which I was prepared for anyway because I negotiated a rate that was still good at a part time rate and set up my healthcare to not be connected to any job.
Just be very smart in your decisions right now with choosing a company, whether full-time, temp, etc. Also, use that āattention to detailā they ask us all to have to pick up on conversations you may not be directly privy to so you know the way the winds are blowing in your organization.
I agree. As much as it seems terrifying, if you think of how it can impact our future then you can see the reasoning. It would have been helpful to explain why this decision was made-primarily because we have tariffs placed on us by countries without any reciprocity-then itās more understandable how the US is impacted unfairly.
This was not well explained.
As far as moving all manufacturing here thatās a tough idea and I canāt see how it could work for all industries. Personally for one thing, Iād like to be less reliant on other countries for medications. We are too vulnerable.
I think countries are going to come to the table to negotiate. Hopefully sooner rather than later
I was taken back by the lack of explanation too. What Iāve heard (after it happened) was that the US negotiators needed to create a sense of urgency for our trading partners. Without an āimpending eventā, countries would delay, delay, delay hoping control over the House changed hands at the midterms and everything would go back to the status quo.
Only 3% of apparel items (probably footwear too) are made in the US. While I donāt see the US ever being an apparel manufacturing hub again, it would be nice to get that number up to 10%. Like medicines and semi-conductors, NOT manufacturing apparel here eventually becomes a health and national security issue.
This could end up being very good for our industry; just donāt look at your 401K for a few more weeks. 
unfortunately, my employer is China owned, so even though we had a hint of this happening back in November, my employer made no preparation for it. So again, companies that arenāt set up to pivot will suffer in this.
I also agree its foolish to think all of sudden everything will be sewn on 36th and 8th tomorrow
yes to that. Tariffs arenāt meant to bring back manufacturing. This is all about ānegotiatingā for more money for a few at the top. We cannot magically build factories in the US in a month and we donāt have the means to create the raw materials needed for these new factories. We donāt even have trained workers anymore. Everything we use on a daily basis is imported in some way. My American made car has struts from China. (Just got one replaced). New factories require money - who is going to invest in an economy that is entering a recession? And finally ,even with these onerous tariffs, imported goods are still cheaper than goods made here. Personally, and I speak only for myself here, our representatives need to represent and move to remove these tariffs so we can keep our jobs and save the economy.
Agreed!
Market creeping back up but if anyone had the opportunity to buy over the past few days I believe in the long run it will pay off.
Already most countries are on pause. But hopefully a resolution can be reached with China!
And even if garment construction was taking place here in the US, most of the components i.e. fabric, interfacing, zippers, buttons & other trims come frm outside the US, so there would still be an impact from tariifs on the finished goods.