United States

The shift of US apparel sourcing away from China has largely benefited Vietnam, which became America's top garment supplier in 2025. India's share of global apparel exports has barely moved in fifteen years, and its US shipments fell sharply this year while, for most of the year, it paid the same duty as Vietnam or more, suggesting that capacity rather than duty rates decides orders.

A year after the last round of US tariffs cost Indian garment workers shifts, wages and jobs, a fresh US duty has been imposed and suspended in the same order, leaving the threat in place. The textile industry's main lobby group says the sector is already under stress, with apparel exports still below last year's level and production concentrated in small firms that have little room to absorb sudden new costs.

A US executive order of 16 October imposed a 100% duty on the largest buyers of Russian energy and waived it in the same text. Indian exporters escape the duty for now, but the waiver has no end date and can be withdrawn at any time, while India's Russian crude purchases remain close to 1.8 million barrels a day.

Machine-knitted fabrics that snap between stable shapes can now act as soft, stretchable switches and sensors, with working prototypes already demonstrated for step counting and lighting control. The breakthrough uses standard industrial weft knitting and elastic yarns, requiring no polymer moulding, and the machines involved are comparable to standard equipment already used in garment factories.

Stretchy clothing could soon be recycled as easily as plastic bottles, thanks to a new elastic yarn that rivals spandex yet melts down and respins into fresh thread. Built entirely from one plastic family, it needs no chemical separation, and could support more circular production and recovery across the textile industry.

A new test material developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology aims to strengthen fibre identification in textile recycling, addressing a gap that limits sorting accuracy and domestic supply chain recovery. The material supports AI-enabled sorting tools and gives labs a shared benchmark, with more than half of all textiles currently suitable for recycling but most going unrecovered.

Clearer physics of liquid droplet behaviour on solid surfaces could transform how textiles are designed to absorb or repel moisture. A review paper has addressed the forces operating where liquid, air, and solid interact, identifying a poorly understood variable in wetting mechanics with implications for athletic wear, protective equipment, and rainwear.

Hemp has long promised more than it has delivered in commercial textile markets. Supply inconsistency, cost uncertainty, and the absence of viable blend systems kept it at the margins. A US company now has an India entity, local inventory, and identified business cases in hand. Tim Almond, Founder, Heartland USA, and Amey Padma, Head – India Business, explain the model.

Forever chemical levels in textiles have fallen sharply since California and New York banned intentionally added PFAS in apparel and household products, new product testing reveals. NRDC tested 115 products and found most well below legal thresholds, though tablecloths, pet accessories, and reusable diapers show continued non-compliance with state law.

Electrochemical treatment of textile dye wastewater generates toxic disinfection byproducts, including chloroform and bromoform, at concentrations far exceeding US drinking water safety limits. Sodium chloride, routinely added to boost treatment efficiency, has been identified as the primary driver of byproduct formation, raising serious concerns for factory workers and downstream environmental health.