FactCheck.org: Suits, Shirts and Ties Are Still Made in the USA

FactCheck.org reported on May 11, 2016, that a claim made by Donald Trump on ABC’s “This Week” on May 8 — that the ties, shirts, suits and accessories in his product line could not be made in the USA because “they don’t even make this stuff here” — was wrong. Such clothing is still made in the USA, though most apparel sold in the country is imported.

What the data showed

• About 97% of apparel and 98% of shoes sold in the USA are made overseas, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA).
• AAFA said U.S. apparel production rose for a sixth straight year in 2015, up 4.3% from 2014 and 50.8% since 2009, reaching 2.7% of the U.S. market.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 133,700 people making apparel in the USA in April 2016.
• Harvard trade professor Robert Z. Lawrence said some suits in the Trump line itself were advertised as “Made in USA.”

Brooks Brothers and other makers

A Brooks Brothers spokesman told FactCheck.org that all of its retail ties were made at its factory in Long Island City, New York; about 85% of its suits at its plant in Haverhill, Massachusetts; and several shirt lines at its factory in Garland, North Carolina. Kathy Shaskan of the Americanologist blog said Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner Marx make suits in the USA with imported fabrics, and that her site listed 17 USA shirt makers and 20 tie makers.

The fabric problem

Textile consultant David Trumbull noted that little dress-shirt and necktie fabric is made in the USA, so many domestically sewn shirts and ties must be labeled “Made in USA of Imported Fabric.” That qualified label is less useful in marketing than an unqualified Made in USA claim. Brooks Brothers’ ties, for example, are cut and sewn in the USA from silk, cotton and wool woven in Italy or England.

Lawrence said making clothing in the USA usually costs more, so some products may not be cost-competitive here, but that they can be made here.