Bring manufacturing home? Let's start with Ivanka Trump's $100 million made-in-Asia apparel line

Will you bring your own line home to be made in the U.S.A?

By Jen Hayden  

USMST

Daily Kos

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Want to bring manufacturing back home? Let's start with Ivanka Trump's clothing line:

Ivanka Trump’s $100 million apparel line is sewn in Asian countries under a licensing agreement with G-III Apparel Group Inc., which has expanded from making coats in New York’s Garment District to become a manufacturer of global scope. That method of moving $140 sheath dresses and $80 sweaters means political embarrassment for her father, who has threatened a trade war against China, the world’s second-largest economy. But she can make a profit in few other ways.

Why Asia? You know why:

The Trump clothes are sourced primarily from China and Vietnam because that’s where fabrics are made and the labor is cheap and skilled. The brand generates an estimated $100 million in sales -- a small part of G-III’s annual take of more than $2 billion, said John Kernan, an analyst for Cowen & Co.

Cheap labor, more profit. Isn’t that why Carrier was moving their manufacturing to Mexico? Isn’t that why Donald Trump has scolded companies like Apple? For manufacturing overseas? Why shouldn’t the Trump family put their money where their mouths are and start by finding a way to make their own goods right here in the U.S.A? Because it’s all about that profit and that bottom line. And as Bloomberg notes, it probably would not end well for Ivanka Trump’s clothing line:

Even if Ivanka Trump could persuade G-III to move all or part of its manufacturing to the U.S., it would dramatically increase the cost of her goods, Cohen said. And that could be a death knell.
“If you ask a person if they prefer to buy made in America, they’ll always say yes, but when it comes to shopping they don’t act that way,” Gribben said. “They want a bargain, they want a value, they want something that looks great. They never look at the label.”

Meanwhile, as a Trump transition team member, Ivanka Trump currently sits in on meetings with the very same people who will be negotiating trade deals down the line. Ones that could ultimately benefit her and the Trump family down the road.

Swell.