NAFTA '94

The North American Free Trade Agreement that was signed into law in 1994 was the final straw. It gave businesses the final push to move as much of their manufacturing overseas as possible. To many, that was all of it. Most apparel manufacturers couldn't get setup overseas fast enough. The promise of instantly increasing margins and profitability was too much of a lore. No tariffs or restrictions meant the new Wild West was found. I imagine it was like hearing there was gold out west in the early days of the US and going to find it. The promise of free money and strong balance sheets could not be resisted.

But at what cost? I've read that between 1990 and 2011 the US apparel industry lost 750,000 manufacturing jobs. Thats 750,000 Americans that had to find new work. Some of these people only knew how to make clothes. Some of those people were your parents or grandparents friends and neighbors. Some lost everything. Imagine the industry your in chasing stronger margins in a new foreign country and just slashing the staff to zero. I'm sure you or people you know have similar stories.

Now take a look at your home town. How has the impact of offshoring affected your hometown? Mine, like many others has been hit hard. Many knitting mills and old factories sat vacant for years. Luckily in our area, some of them have been turned into many other operations. 

I am happy though. I feel like the younger generation is more interested in where something comes from or how it was made. My generation grew up in the offshoring phase where everything was getting cheaper. Now you can buy anything on Amazon that was made in Asia for a few bucks. I'm not complaining about that. It is a good thing, but I do believe some things or a certain percentage of everything need to be made here.

Think back to Covid. Which is crazy to say because it feels like yesterday. Covid stopped the world for a period of time. Americans couldn't get toilet paper, masks, ventilators, clothing, or microchips. Cars were being built and sitting in parking lots waiting for microchips to get here from Asia. Now some of the things we couldn't get were not life threatening but some were. Imagine something like Covid or worse happens globally and we cannot source microchips for 24 months. Those things are in every electronic we use. I think lol. 

My point here is that we need to be a little more self reliant as a country. Not to get political as I feel both sides do good and bad, but as Americans we need to never be in a position to not be able to source something that keeps us going. We cannot rely on Asia to do everything for us. 

Now I know nothing about microchips or ventilators but I do know a little bit about apparel. That is where I feel I can help make a very small dent in bring manufacturing back to the USA. Maybe it creates 1 job for a fellow American. Maybe it helps an American business keep their doors open another day. Who knows but the more we can do for each other, the better off we'll be. 

Okay rant over. Just hoping for Good Days and Better Tomorrows

- JT