The US National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), which has been a supporter of US President Donald Trump's trade policies, has voiced its disagreement with the comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Bessent had highlighted the importance of "precision manufacturing," seemingly downplaying the significance of the textile and apparel sectors.

During a White House press briefing, Bessent told reporters: “The goal here is to bring back the high quality industrial jobs to the US President Trump is interested in the jobs of the future, not the jobs of the past. You know we don't need to necessarily have a booming textile industry like where I grew up again, but we do want to have precision manufacturing and bring that back.”

The industry representatives maintain that their sector remains vital. The group pointed out that “the US proudly makes over 8,000 different products to the US military”.

It also noted that the US, as the world's second-largest exporter of textile-related goods, exported $28bn worth of these goods in 2024.

Reacting to the remarks, NCTO president and CEO Kimberly Glas said: “Our industry saw your remarks and were disheartened to hear this sentiment, especially since this industry has been noted by President Trump himself on a number of occasions as critical and strategic. This is a strategically important, relevant, and key industry – which is why we were pleased the White House amplified the industry again in its press release on reciprocal tariffs.”

Glas has requested a meeting with Bessent.

“With the right policies, the Trump administration can encourage the US textile industry to reinvest in America, preserve and grow our existing workforce, and spur greater production and sales of American-made textiles now and in the future.

“We would like to meet at your convenience to discuss the critical nature of the US textile industry and how the Administration can help this key supply chain onshore jobs,” Glas stated.

At the 21st annual meeting in Washington, DC, the NCTO revealed the textile industry saw man-made fibre, textile, and apparel shipments valued at approximately $63.9bn in 2024, a 1.3% decrease from $64.8bn in 2023.

In March this year, a collective of US entities, known as the Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole, comprising of NCTO and Alliance for American Manufacturing and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), reached out to US President Donald Trump with a request to permanently end the de minimis provision.

The NCTO publicly backed Trump's America First Reciprocal Trade Plan, a stance acknowledged by the White House.