garment industry news and archive

The tariff trap: Why Lesotho’s “reciprocal" duties hand advantage to regional rivals

Lesotho’s garment industry, once a beacon of industrial growth in Southern Africa, is facing a collapse that unions describe as a “gendered supply chain shock.” Following the US administration’s imposition of “reciprocal” tariffs — which reached as high as 50 percent before settling at a 15 percent surcharge — the mountain kingdom’s largest...

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Business

Shein seeks Vietnam expansion to offset U.S. tariffs

Fast-fashion leader Shein is encouraging key Chinese suppliers to establish production facilities in Vietnam, offering temporary incentives such as higher procurement prices of up to 30 percent and larger order guarantees, according to a Bloomberg report. The move comes in response to recent U.S. trade policy changes, including the removal of...

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Business|OPINION

Bangladesh garment factories: from suppliers to partners

In the wake of the fourth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh, ultimately the question comes up if the garment industry has changed since then and if yes, what has changed. This is a tricky question to answer as not all changes are tangible and as a reporter who has followed the developments since the Tazreen Fashions fire and...

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Retail

Bangladesh garment industry fears attack

The echoes of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh can still be felt three years after the disaster killed 1,000 workers in April 2013. Add to the lasting damage last weekend's terrorist attack in Dhaka, the home of Rana Plaza and the manufacturing hub of Bangladesh, means local and international garment workers are fearing for their...

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Business

Can Sri Lanka benefit as apparel companies leave China?

In view of rising wages of garment workers in China and thus apparel companies leaving and investing in other countries, could Sri Lanka's garment industry scoop up some of China's business? This was one of the questions posed at the Sri Lanka Economic Forum 2016, which took place on January 7 and 8 in Colombo. “China is still about a third of...

Apparel

Ten-point reform plan for Bangladesh

During a seminar last Thursday in Dhaka, various representatives of Bangladesh’s garment industry came up with a 10-point plan to reform the sector’s readymade garment (RMG) manufacturing units to avoid disasters such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza building that killed more than 1,100 mostly female garment workers. The “Post-Rana Reform...