A Comparative Study of the Role of China and India in Sustainable Textile Competition in the U.S. Market under Green Trade Barriers

Abstract

The United States is the most important textile import market in the world, and one of the most important export targets of developing countries. In view of its ecological environment and consumer health, the United States has put forward increasingly harsh environmental protection systems and standards for imported textile products, and its environmental trade barriers have been steadily strengthened. China's textile exports increased substantially after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2000; at present, the textile imports of the United States from China and India reach in total more than one third of all their imports. China and India both have comparative advantages in the import trade of textile raw materials and clothing in the United States (U.S.). On the basis of the United Nation ComTrade Rev. 3, this paper studies the role of China and India in the United States textile market, including calculating the trade competitiveness index, revealing the competitive advantages of China and India, and investigating the impact of both Chinese and Indian textiles on United States imports from the rest of the world across three main textile sectors in the period 2000-2016, especially in the context of green trade barriers. We find that the relative textile import prices, the ecological standard of China's textile production re-edited Oeko-Tex Standard 100 in 2008 and export tax policy, and the competitive advantages of China and India had varied impacts on relative U.S. textile imports across related sectors under green environmental trade barriers. These findings recognize China's competitiveness in international trading, and also provide suggestions regarding China's competitiveness and sustainable development in the U.S. market.

The Influence of Core Technology Capability of High-Tech Industry on Sustainable Competitive Advantage

“…Several pieces of the literature have been reported on the study of sustainable competition. Xu et al revealed the characteristics of China and India's sustainable advantages and clarified that China and India have different impacts on the imports of related fields in the United States [3]. Zeng et al proposed that the role of information systems was played in developing countries and sustainable information infrastructure [4].…”

Comparative Advantage of Yarn and Weaving Industries: Evidence for Türkiye and Top Exporters

“…These indices are frequently used in studies for the textile sector [24,25,26,27], where global competition is increasing. It was used to examine the competition of the textile sectors in China [28,29], India [28,30,31], Pakistan [32] and the USA [20,29], which are important players. According to the results of these studies, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India and Türkiye are competitive countries in the textile sector.…”

A Review on Textile Recycling Practices and Challenges

“…Furthermore, China produces approximately 31% of the global ratio of synthetic fibers required by the modern textile industry [23] and produces nearly 65% of the world's clothing [24]. When China started imposing strict environmental standards on textile production, China's cloth products became more competitive in the United States (US) market [25].…”