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Many African countries actually prevent import of second hand clothing. They can produce clothing locally for quite cheap with local labor (that is cheap), but

Many African countries actually prevent import of second hand clothing. They can produce clothing locally for quite cheap with local labor (that is cheap), but having literally FREE clothing showing up actually decimates your local industry. That's why you have anti-dumping laws in the western world.

Scoundreller 5y ago
But can they even compete with first hand clothing made in south/Southeast Asia? I haven’t seen anything “Made in Africa” in North America.
- mikem170 5y ago
  The idea is that "Made in Africa" clothes costs less locally in Africa than clothes made in Asia and shipped to Africa. Giving out free clothes in Africa puts "Made in Africa" out of that business. What costs less for you in America may not be the same as what costs less in Africa, because of transport costs.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    What's the transport cost on a t-shirt in a container? 7 cents? My guess is that these countries have protectionist duties, which just makes goods more expensive for locals. Textiles aren't a very strategic industry. (Yes, everyone needs them, but it's not hard to find a selling country).
    - mikem170 5y ago
      There could be protectionist duties. These are sometimes justified due to the cost of loosing jobs. A trade-off. I'm just not sure of relevance of the cost of asian versus african shirts in the U.S. It's not just shipping containers, but the rest of the transport network, how many trucks are available, the retail networks, and the middle-men to facilitate the trade, the different labor and cost of living, currency exchange rates, regulatory stability, etc. Seems like there are a lot of confounding variables and it would be difficult to draw on what t-shirts currently cost in the U.S.
erfgh 5y ago
The reason why you have anti-dumping is for the government to protect jobs at a certain sector (and hence buy votes), at the expense of consumers.

Scoundreller 5y ago

But can they even compete with first hand clothing made in south/Southeast Asia? I haven’t seen anything “Made in Africa” in North America.

mikem170 5y ago
The idea is that "Made in Africa" clothes costs less locally in Africa than clothes made in Asia and shipped to Africa. Giving out free clothes in Africa puts "Made in Africa" out of that business. What costs less for you in America may not be the same as what costs less in Africa, because of transport costs.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  What's the transport cost on a t-shirt in a container? 7 cents? My guess is that these countries have protectionist duties, which just makes goods more expensive for locals. Textiles aren't a very strategic industry. (Yes, everyone needs them, but it's not hard to find a selling country).
  - mikem170 5y ago
    There could be protectionist duties. These are sometimes justified due to the cost of loosing jobs. A trade-off. I'm just not sure of relevance of the cost of asian versus african shirts in the U.S. It's not just shipping containers, but the rest of the transport network, how many trucks are available, the retail networks, and the middle-men to facilitate the trade, the different labor and cost of living, currency exchange rates, regulatory stability, etc. Seems like there are a lot of confounding variables and it would be difficult to draw on what t-shirts currently cost in the U.S.

erfgh 5y ago

The reason why you have anti-dumping is for the government to protect jobs at a certain sector (and hence buy votes), at the expense of consumers.