Garment, Apparel and Textiles

In the face of rising competition from Asia, the global fashion and apparel industry is undergoing rapid change. Creative design, some production and input is being conducted in the United States, with Florida as one of the industry�s global epicenters. However, final assembly is increasingly being executed in the nearby CAFTA countries. The result is closer integration of the apparel industries of the U.S. and the CAFTA countries. The close proximity of Florida�s fashion industry to its offshore assembly resources in the Caribbean and Central America, gives it an important advantage in this industry where low costs and fast turn-around times are critical success factors. By providing, for the first time, duty-free access for U.S. exports of textiles and apparel to this region, making apparel sourced there from U.S. components even more competitive, CAFTA is increasing U.S. textile, apparel and leather exports by 15 percent, or over $800 million annually.