'Focus on common sense solutions': US apparel, footwear industry reacts to Trump's 'make tanks, not t-shirts' remark

US President Donald Trump has irked the domestic textiles industry by saying that his government’s tariff measures are designed to boost the production of high-end tech products and defence equipment, rather than the manufacturing of clothes.

Trump referred to Commerce Secretary Scott Bessent’s remark from April 29 and said, “We’re not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to make, do the AI thing.”

“I’m not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I’m not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations. We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships,” he added.

Responding to Trump’s comments, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) President Steve Lamar said, “With 97% of the clothes and shoes we wear being imported, and with clothes and shoes already the most highly tariffed industry in the US, we need to focus on common sense solutions that can move the needle.”

Trump, who has upended world markets with the broad imposition of tariffs, revived his harsh trade rhetoric last week when he pushed for a 50 per cent tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warned Apple he may impose a 25 per cent levy on all imported iPhones bought by US consumers.

But he dialled back on the EU threat on Sunday, extending a deadline for those tariffs until July 9 to allow for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc.

He has sought to make good on his promises to boost manufacturing with import tariffs and herald investments by companies and foreign nations into the United States, even as the US economy remains dependent on supply chains with other countries where many goods, including textiles, are produced less expensively.

With inputs from agencies