Textile Industry’s FTA Perspectives

Introduction

The textile industry has been one of the pioneers of globalisation for many years, where production was shifted to new regions with lower costs, affecting the exchange and distribution of goods. It has however been observed that with the increasing pace of globalisation, the use of free trade agreements (FTAs) has emerged strongly in the textile industry.

FTAs have been a key driver of the liberalisation and internationalisation of the textile business. As a result of the FTA, tariff barriers have been lowered, rules of origin standardised and investment protection measures provided, and textile firms have been able to streamline their global supply chain and gain market access. This has had a profound effect on the spatial distribution of textile production, with most of the exports now coming from developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

As discussed earlier, there are a number of reasons that have led to the emergence of FTAs in the textile industry. Companies have strived to source their products from the least expensive countries to minimise costs, while the developing nations have pursued the FTAs vigorously to get the preferred market access. Self-interest and industry lobbying have also played a role in the negotiation of the FTA.

The globalisation of FTAs has also drastically changed the textile industry in the contemporary world. Trade has been gradually redirected and production has been relocated to specific regions with advantages. There is a high level of fragmentation in supply chains and various stages of production are located in various countries. The changes have posed serious impacts on employment, wages, and social and environmental factors.

This is a significant challenge as the textile industry becomes increasingly complex, and firms and policymakers will have to adapt to this landscape. Understanding the complex web of FTAs, responding to the fast-changing production structures, as well as managing the disruptive effects will be the major issues that need to be solved in order to preserve the role of the industry for further sustainable economic growth.

Textiles have been among the most important trade products and have contributed to the development of the global economy for several centuries. With the globalisation of manufacturing, the application of FTAs has been widely used in the textile industry. This paper aims to discuss the globalisation of FTAs in the textile industry in relation to the factors that have driven the trend, the effects on trade and production, as well as the implications on firms and policymakers.

The Rise of FTAs in the Textile Industry 

The textile industry was one of the pioneers of Globalisation where manufacturing moved to low-cost areas in the 70s and 80s. This resulted in a series of bilateral and regional trade agreements whose primary goal was to liberalise the textile trade and encourage investment in this area.

Some key milestones include:

• The Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) which controlled textile trade since 1974 and ended in 2004 by eliminating quotas
• The creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 and the Textile Agreement that aimed at further opening the textile sector
• The fast expansion of FTAs like NAFTA, CAFTA-DR, and trade agreements of the EU that also contained considerable sections on textiles

The number of FTAs in force by 2023 was more than three hundred, and a significant number of them contain provisions on the liberalisation of trade in textiles, origin rules, and investment protection. This has led to a shift in the structure of the textile supply chain globally, with higher levels of fragmentation and specialisation across different regions.

Potential Factors for the Growth of FTA in Textiles

Several factors have driven the globalisation of FTAs in the textile industry:

• Cost competitiveness: The textile manufacturing industry has been remarkably internationalised with firms in the process of searching for the best places for production. Through FTAs, firms have been able to harness tariff liberalisation and rules of origin to enhance their supply chain.
• Market access: Many developing countries with large textile industries like China, India, and Vietnam have gone on an FTA signing spree to gain access to the large consumer markets in North America, Europe, and Asia.
• Investment promotion: Specifically, measures that safeguard FDI in the textile sector are typically incorporated in FTAs, which can help to increase investor confidence.
• Geopolitical factors: In the course of the textualist approach, trade in textiles has been 

bound up with other political and strategic factors and FTAs have been applied as a tool to enhance the economic and political cooperation between the countries and regions.

• Lobbying by industry groups: The textile industry has been very vocal about the use of textile provisions in FTAs and has used its political muscle to influence the process.

Impact on Trade Flows and Production

The proliferation of FTAs has had a significant impact on global textile trade and production patterns: The proliferation of FTAs has had a significant impact on global textile trade and production patterns:

• Shift in trade flows: The change in the trend of textile trade has been significant in the past couple of decades where the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America have emerged as the major exporters of textiles and apparel replacing their counterparts in Europe and North America.
• Fragmentation of supply chains: Some textile supply chains have been dissected and various production processes have been geographically dispersed across countries to take advantage of FTA rules of origin.
• Rise of regional production hub: Today, countries with comparative advantages in textile manufacturing have started forming regional production bases like Southeast Asia, Central America, and some parts of Africa, following the formation of the FTAs.
• Impacts on employment and wages: The shift in textile production has brought effects on employment and wages, while some areas have experienced the loss of jobs, others have experienced the creation of new jobs, though the jobs may not require similar skills.

Implications for Firms and Policymakers 

The globalisation of FTAs in the textile industry has presented both challenges and opportunities for firms and policymakers: The globalisation of FTAs in the textile industry has presented both challenges and opportunities for firms and policymakers:

• For firms:

– Managing the FTAs to ensure that supply chains are aligned to the appropriate markets.

– Managing the shifting landscape of production and trade systems

– Technological advance and human capital as a strategic direction to ensure that the organisation is competitive.

• For policymakers:

– The following are some of the objectives of the policy: Mitigating the conflicts between       different stakeholders such as producers, workers, and consumers

– Negotiating FTAs that would enhance sustainable and inclusive growth in the textile sector

– Policies that support trade and investments also have social and economic impacts and thus there is a need to put in place policies that can address these impacts.

FTAs impacted the competitiveness of textile firms in developing countries

• The analysis of the impact of FTAs shows that those agreements have contributed to enhancing the competitiveness of textile firms in developing countries and have offered them net advantages over their counterparts in developed economies.
• Of all how FTAs have enhanced competitiveness, one of the most significant is through the enhancement of market access. By negotiating for tariff cuts and special rules of origin, textile companies in developing countries have been granted easier entry to the biggest consumer markets in North America, Europe, and Asia. This has enabled them to offer their products at cheaper prices hence obtaining a larger market share.
• For instance, the creation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) FTA between the US and various African countries opened textile and apparel exports from Sub-Saharan Africa to the US. In the same way, the CAFTA-DR agreement offered improved access to the huge US market for Central American textile producers.
• FTAs have also boosted the foreign investment in the textile industries of developing countries. The investment protection provisions in many FTAs have ensured foreign textile manufacturers more confidence to invest in these markets and set up production units. This has introduced new technologies, skills, and scale economies which enhance the capability of local firms.
• In addition, the rules of origin necessary for FTAs have helped foster the construction of regional textile supply networks in the Third World. This has enabled firms to tap into the comparative advantages of regions, cut costs, and enhance efficiencies. They have given rise to regional production centres such as those located in Southeast Asia and Central America.
• However, the effects have not been positive for everyone as will be discussed later on. Other competitors from other developing countries that have embraced FTAs have also posed some problems to some domestic textile industries in these countries. This has called for improvement in technologies, skills, and management practices within firms in order to cope with the changes.
• However, the social and environmental consequences of the fast expansion of the textile industry through FTAs have had both positive and negative effects. Some of the issues that are being raised include the level of protection of workers, the impacts of trade on the environment, and the sharing of the benefits that come with trade.

In general, FTAs have acted as a major factor in the increase in competitiveness of textile firms in developing countries through better market access, attraction of investments, and development of regional supply chain networks. Nonetheless, there are still issues with the management of such disruptions and the minimization of their adverse effects, which is why it still presents a concern for policymakers and other industry players.

FTAs have had a significant impact on the geographic distribution of textile production and trade flows globally

The analysis of FTAs has also shown that they have greatly affected the geographical location of textile production and trading patterns across the world. Here is a more detailed overview: Here is a more detailed overview:

• Geographic Shift in Production:

– Curtailment of the textile industry in developed economies has been made possible through the signing of FTAs that have enabled the shifting of this industry to the developing world, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

– The Asian giants, including China and Vietnam, and other countries like Bangladesh, India, and many nations in the sub-Saharan region have become the new sources of textile production, offering cheap labour, and investment through preferential access to markets through FTAs.

– Such a change has been made possible by the fact that firms in developing countries have been able to capitalise on the lower cost of labour, favourable policies, and duty-free/reduced-tariff access to the key consumer markets under the FTAs.

• Changes in Trade Patterns:

– FTAs have revised the structure of textile exports and imports and have led to the emergence of new players, especially in developing countries exporting to developed nations in North America, Europe, and Asia.

– There has also been growth in intra-regional trade through the development of regional textile value chains, especially in Asia, Central America, and sub-Saharan Africa.

– For instance, the CAFTA-DR has been proven to have enhanced textile and apparel commerce within the Central American region as well as enhanced exports to the United States.

– On the other hand, developed countries such as the United States and EU have experienced a reduction of their market share in the export of textiles to the global markets due to the competitive pressures from the developing countries enjoying FTA.

Production Hubs and Supply Chain Fragmentation: Production Hubs and Supply Chain Fragmentation:

• FTAs have contributed to the creation of geographic networks of textile production, which may help firms take advantage of location-specific factors and sector-specific agglomeration effects.
• This has culminated in the complexity of the textile chains of supply as the various stages of production are spread across different countries to capture the FTA’s provisions.
• For example, the fabric might be sourced from one of the FTA partner countries while the garment assembly is done in the other country to reduce the costs and increase the tariff benefits.

Environmental & Social Impacts

• The growth of textile exports from developing countries as a result of the FTAs has also attracted criticism on the environmental impact of the industry and the treatment of workers.
• Growth in the economy has led to a high demand for natural resources, energy, and disposal of waste affecting textile cities.
• Some of the issues that have continued to be debated include wages, working conditions, and the distribution of the gains from trade liberalisation.

Altogether, FTAs have played an important role in globalising textile production and trade and have changed the geography of the industry. It has however opened up economic benefits that have come with their challenges that need policy actions and industries to deal with.

 Conclusion

The globalisation of FTAs has brought significant changes in the structure of the textile industry in terms of trade and production and the competition environment. While the textile sector is still growing, firms and policymakers will have to address the challenges that come with this growing sector, which will be important for the industry to remain relevant to economic development.