American textile industry
American textile industry has been one of America's most important industries
since the invention of the cotton gin in 1790. In fact, in 1790, the first
factory built in the United States was a textile spinning plant. That was one
factory in the 1860s that grew to about 3,000 textile factories in the 1790s as
the Industrial Revolution brought technological improvements, making it
possible for America to produce textiles more efficiently than any other country
at the time.
Within
a few years, Francis Cabot Lowell, an American merchant, helped establish the
first textile factory in the United States. Influenced by British textile
mills, he founded his own and in 1813 formed the Boston Manufacturing Company with
several partners. The company built a mill near the Charles River in Waltham,
Massachusetts, and established the Lowell System, which integrated all the
operations of a mill by converting raw cotton into cloth. Many also see the
founding of the Lowell Mill as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in
America.
When
Lowell fell ill and died in 1817, his company's investors received dividends,
which they used to build a larger mill town in 1822. They named the
Massachusetts town Lowell in honor of Francis Cabot Lowell. By 1832 most
businesses in the United States were related to the textile industry.
After
World War I, textiles continued to play an important role in the American
industrial system, as they had since the early 1800s. Indeed, the textile industry
dominated the South, as employment in the textile industry peaked in June 1948
with 1.3 million jobs. North Carolina held the record in 1940 with 40% of jobs
in textile and clothing manufacturing. In the 1960s, American textile companies
produced 95% of bedding and clothing in the United States. But the American
textile industry began to slow in the late 1990s. About 650 textile plants
closed between 1997 and 2009, and in 2013 the textile industry accounted for
only 1.1% of North Carolina jobs. Most American clothing is produced overseas
with only 2-3% in the US.
In
the early 2010s, China began to outsource jobs in the textile industry to the
United States. Many also called it "just the beginning of a textile
renaissance that would revitalize the Carolinas." Today, the American
textile industry is the fourth largest exporter of textile products in the
world. In 2017, apparel, fiber, and textile exports were $28.6 billion. A world
leader in textile research and development, the US textile industry is particularly
focused on next-generation textile materials, particularly for the US military.
Building
on this administration's focus on innovation, productivity, reciprocal free
trade agreements, the US Trade Priority Program, and domestic
production-oriented policies, the US textile industry has maintained its
position as the nation's second-largest individual exporter of fiber, yarn,
cloth, and sewing products.
Their
industry metrics were strong last year, as business bounced back from the
recession in 2020. In 2021, US man-made fiber, textile, and apparel shipments
were valued at an estimated $65.2 billion, compared to $60.8 billion in 2020.
US
exports are also up over 2020, where exports of fibers, textiles, and apparel
were $28.4 billion in 2021 compared to $25.3 billion in 2020. Capital spending
remains strong. The latest figure they hit is $1.85 billion in 2020 investment
in the production of yarn, fabric, apparel, and sewing products. As of 2011,
capital investment in U.S. yarn, fabric, apparel, and sewing products
production totaled $20.2 billion.
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