Walmart aisles were piled high with goods this holiday season, but one item stuck out: cotton T-shirts that were made in America and cost $12.98.
The U.S. is awash in a sea of cheap imports that has destroyed much of the domestic apparel industry. In 2023, less than 4% of the apparel purchased in America was made here.
Seeking to turn the tide, Donald Trump imposed tariffs in 2018 on Chinese imports during his first term as president and has proposed additional tariffs on all imports in his second term, including items from neighboring Canada and Mexico.
But it wasn’t tariffs that made the $12.98 shirt economically feasible, says Bayard Winthrop, the chief executive and founder of American Giant, the U.S. apparel company producing them. It was Walmart’s heft—and guaranteed orders.
