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Often they want to build their local textile industry. They're still poor, but they realize that undercutting their local production capacity with free handouts

Often they want to build their local textile industry. They're still poor, but they realize that undercutting their local production capacity with free handouts has been one of the things keeping them poor.

arximboldi 9y ago
I've heard that argument from various people but I don't understand it. If you don't need to produce clothes you have more energy and workforce available to produce other things, like infrastructure, and run schools, hospitals and build other industries. What is the value in having a textile industry for the sake of having it? I'd imagine that the best industry is the one that you don't even need...
- karthikb 9y ago
  Unlike many other industries, textiles are all of: (1) relatively low capital to get started due to the relative simplicity of the equipment and the age of the industry and equipment designs (2) mostly low skilled, meaning that the government doesn’t have to invest a ton in training or wait a long time for enough folks to get the needed skills (3) safer than most industries (4) more or less guaranteed domestic market (everyone needs clothes)
  - bluGill 9y ago
    True, but you really want to be making textiles for rich countries, not for your local market.
  - philwelch 9y ago
    Not to mention the potential export market. Textiles are a great example of comparative advantage at work--even if a richer country can manufacture better textiles than a poorer country, importing textiles from the poor countries frees up resources for the rich country to manufacture other goods. There are good reasons Bangladesh is a major player in the textile industry.
- matte_black 9y ago
  This is a similar dilemma as the one caused by job automation. If you automate all the jobs people can readily do, you do not instantly make them able to perform more complex jobs. They might be unlikely to learn to do anything else in a reasonable amount of time.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  Its the ecosystem around it. Textiles were one of the first industrial scale operations for a reason. It generates complimentary business like trucking, chemicals, packaging, mechanical trades, etc.
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  This is exactly my thought. If you get clothes by the ton at less than cost because they're used, you don't need a domestic textile industry. Your local fashionistas can still buy the same fabrics and designs as New York or Paris, if they want them. Besides that, if you stop soaking up the supply by accepting imports, you certainly aren't going to be able to export competitively. In my opinion, third world countries should be sending their folks to Delaware to study corporate law, and to various island nations to study offshore banking. After they have the principles down, pass legislation that turns the country into a sweatshop/boiler-room for intellectual property lawsuits and tax avoidance schemes. The current state of the world is that you have to be rich to get rich, so if you pretend to be rich for long enough, you have a decent chance of either making that real or collapsing in a boneless pile of fraud. And if the latter would happen anyway, there's really no point in actually doing anything useful or productive to keep up appearances.
- rhino369 9y ago
  My guess is the idea is to grow the textile industry beyond just making domestic products and to start selling exports. Once you have a homegrown operation, people like Nike are willing to let you make their clothes. Basically using it as the first step towards industrialization. Why textiles? Because its the easiest thing to manufacture. Clothing is light. So textiles are often made wherever there is cheap labor. They'd rather get a factory making iPhones, but that isn't happening.
- mcguire 9y ago
  "If you don't need to produce X you have more energy and workforce available to produce Y." At some point, the contents of category Y start looking a little thin on the ground.
Symbiote 9y ago
I visited West Africa recently, and was surprised to find that the fabric worn by most women and many men[1] was often produced in China -- even though cotton is a major export of the region[2]. I'm not sure why. Could it be the costs imposed on businesses — corruption, less-educated labour force and so on — are higher than in China? [1] The remaining men and most boys wore cheap western clothes, mostly printed t-shirts. I saw lots of "X conference 2017" shirts, European and American football shirts, and company shirts. They were in good condition, so I assume they are either rejected or returned stock. [2] http://madame-tay.blogspot.dk/2014/01/know-your-wax.html http://madame-tay.blogspot.dk/2014/01/know-your-wax.html
- cratermoon 9y ago
  The African textile industry was killed by the used clothing market. https://www.voanews.com/a/used-clothing-kills-nigerian-textile-industry/1607972.html https://www.voanews.com/a/used-clothing-kills-nigerian-texti... Somewhat ironic, in context.
- cat199 9y ago
  ... aand here we see yet another example of Northern Yankee imperialism benefiting from African Slavery in the South..

arximboldi 9y ago

I've heard that argument from various people but I don't understand it. If you don't need to produce clothes you have more energy and workforce available to produce other things, like infrastructure, and run schools, hospitals and build other industries. What is the value in having a textile industry for the sake of having it? I'd imagine that the best industry is the one that you don't even need...

karthikb 9y ago
Unlike many other industries, textiles are all of: (1) relatively low capital to get started due to the relative simplicity of the equipment and the age of the industry and equipment designs (2) mostly low skilled, meaning that the government doesn’t have to invest a ton in training or wait a long time for enough folks to get the needed skills (3) safer than most industries (4) more or less guaranteed domestic market (everyone needs clothes)
- bluGill 9y ago
  True, but you really want to be making textiles for rich countries, not for your local market.
- philwelch 9y ago
  Not to mention the potential export market. Textiles are a great example of comparative advantage at work--even if a richer country can manufacture better textiles than a poorer country, importing textiles from the poor countries frees up resources for the rich country to manufacture other goods. There are good reasons Bangladesh is a major player in the textile industry.
matte_black 9y ago
This is a similar dilemma as the one caused by job automation. If you automate all the jobs people can readily do, you do not instantly make them able to perform more complex jobs. They might be unlikely to learn to do anything else in a reasonable amount of time.
Spooky23 9y ago
Its the ecosystem around it. Textiles were one of the first industrial scale operations for a reason. It generates complimentary business like trucking, chemicals, packaging, mechanical trades, etc.
logfromblammo 9y ago
This is exactly my thought. If you get clothes by the ton at less than cost because they're used, you don't need a domestic textile industry. Your local fashionistas can still buy the same fabrics and designs as New York or Paris, if they want them. Besides that, if you stop soaking up the supply by accepting imports, you certainly aren't going to be able to export competitively. In my opinion, third world countries should be sending their folks to Delaware to study corporate law, and to various island nations to study offshore banking. After they have the principles down, pass legislation that turns the country into a sweatshop/boiler-room for intellectual property lawsuits and tax avoidance schemes. The current state of the world is that you have to be rich to get rich, so if you pretend to be rich for long enough, you have a decent chance of either making that real or collapsing in a boneless pile of fraud. And if the latter would happen anyway, there's really no point in actually doing anything useful or productive to keep up appearances.
rhino369 9y ago
My guess is the idea is to grow the textile industry beyond just making domestic products and to start selling exports. Once you have a homegrown operation, people like Nike are willing to let you make their clothes. Basically using it as the first step towards industrialization. Why textiles? Because its the easiest thing to manufacture. Clothing is light. So textiles are often made wherever there is cheap labor. They'd rather get a factory making iPhones, but that isn't happening.
mcguire 9y ago
"If you don't need to produce X you have more energy and workforce available to produce Y." At some point, the contents of category Y start looking a little thin on the ground.

Symbiote 9y ago

I visited West Africa recently, and was surprised to find that the fabric worn by most women and many men[1] was often produced in China -- even though cotton is a major export of the region[2]. I'm not sure why. Could it be the costs imposed on businesses — corruption, less-educated labour force and so on — are higher than in China? [1] The remaining men and most boys wore cheap western clothes, mostly printed t-shirts. I saw lots of "X conference 2017" shirts, European and American football shirts, and company shirts. They were in good condition, so I assume they are either rejected or returned stock. [2] http://madame-tay.blogspot.dk/2014/01/know-your-wax.html http://madame-tay.blogspot.dk/2014/01/know-your-wax.html

cratermoon 9y ago
The African textile industry was killed by the used clothing market. https://www.voanews.com/a/used-clothing-kills-nigerian-textile-industry/1607972.html https://www.voanews.com/a/used-clothing-kills-nigerian-texti... Somewhat ironic, in context.
cat199 9y ago
... aand here we see yet another example of Northern Yankee imperialism benefiting from African Slavery in the South..