American textile industry- An overview

American textile industry

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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