Hall, who serves as president and CEO of textile manufacturer Barnet, delivered his remarks at NCTO’s 22nd Annual Meeting, which took place from 14–16 April at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.
Hall started his address with a stark note: “In just two and a half years, more than 40U.S. textile plants have closed. Let that sink in. Forty facilities — many in rural communities where a textile mill is the economic backbone — shut their doors. Families were impacted. Communities were shaken.”
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He attributed the losses to predatory trade practices intensifying, the surge in illegal transshipments, customs fraud and logistics breakdowns which rippled across supply chains.
Sweeping global tariff increases, he said, “triggered uncertainty and injected unpredictability into global markets.”
Despite these challenges, Hall said, in 2025, the industry’s key metrics registered slight declines across the board but remained stable relative to major trade and economic disruptions throughout the year.
“This again underscores the industry’s ability to adapt during challenging times and remain viable even while registering some losses.”
2025 US textile industry in numbers
Industry data for 2025, as presented by Hall, show that the value of US man-made fibre, textile, and apparel shipments totalled an estimated $60.9bn, down from $63.9bn in 2024.
Exports of fibres, textiles, and apparel is also slightly down to $27bn in 2025, from $28bn the previous year.
Between 2017 and 2024, the industry invested $34.3bn in advanced manufacturing within the US.
Additionally, $5.5bn went into new plants and equipment in 2024, the most recent year with available figures.
“Despite weakening in some fundamentals, I remain cautiously optimistic that the
industry will once again navigate the disruptions and remain resilient this year.
Several policy wins and significant progress in key priority areas will generate more
business opportunities for the industry and thus provide a basis and foundation for
optimism in 2026,” Hall said.
Influencing key policies
But while in 2025 the industry faced these significant challenges, Hall said, it was also a year of wins for the US textile sector, particularly with regard to economic policy.
These outcomes followed senior-level meetings, executive visits, direct engagement with Cabinet secretaries and policymakers on Capitol Hill, along with ongoing grassroots advocacy.
Among others, major wins during the year include closing de minimis loophole, securing Western Hemisphere tariff exemptions, elevating customs enforcement, and protecting key defence procurement rules.
2026 outlook
Looking to the coming year, the organisation’s primary advocacy objectives include maintaining duty-free status for textile and apparel goods eligible under USMCA and CAFTA-DR agreements.
NCTO also plans to increase efforts directed at the administration and Congress to obtain tariff exemptions for textile manufacturing inputs and machinery not produced domestically.
In addition, it aims to strengthen engagement to protect and extend the Berry Amendment through the National Defense Authorization Act and the House Berry Amendment Caucus.
“We enter 2026 with many challenges ahead. The work never ends, and the challenges are ever evolving. In 2026, global competition remains fierce. Policy uncertainty remains real. Enforcement gaps remain persistent,” Hall said.
