Why Bras Won’t Be Made in the USA

Credit: The Lingerie Addict, explaining "The underwire and bone casings on this Chantal Thomass are sewn with a twin needle lockstitch. There are two parallel rows of --- stitching. Photo by K Laskowska"

President Trump has postponed a 25% tariff on bras—the rate is still 10%. But listen to Mark Corrado, the president of Leading Lady, which makes women’s underwear. As reported in the New York Times, he dangled a brassiere as he testified before a panel of government officials. “It’s a very difficult garment to make, and it takes a lot of precision to make it as well as they make it in China,” he said, pointing to the lace, the elastic shoulder straps and the metal hooks.

And here’s the kicker. It’s not just cost—it’s the lack of skilled labor in the U.S.

He explained that decades ago his company had five factories in the United States. He moved his plants to Central America, and then to China. Now, Americans have lost that expertise, he said.

“Most women in the rural areas grew up sewing,” Mr. Corrado said. “That situation has totally changed.”

A bra war broke out between China, the EU, and the U.S. in 2005. The Bush administration imposed a quota on bras coming in from China. The EU did the same. These efforts failed because China had a large supply of women with the necessary sewing skills to make a bra.

European bra makers adapted by switching to high-end lingerie, not the cheap stuff.
China has had a virtual monopoly on bra manufacturing since then.

To get a better sense of this, I asked Google how many stitches are in a bra. There is no real answer: It depends on the bra, and as some readers know, bras vary widely in construction, materials, quality, and price.

The best source I located was “Lingerie Construction Basics, Part 1: Most Common Types of Stitch” (https://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2018/03/lingerie-construction-types-of-stitch.html).

To summarize, I quote:

It’s also crucial to remember there is a big difference in the construction techniques used by brands at different levels. Small, independent designers don't have access to the same machinery as large, corporate design houses. A bra produced by a mass manufactured label may use heavily industrialized techniques, like twin needle lockstitches and cover stitches - stitches an individual person who hand makes lingerie can only dream of. It doesn't mean one is necessarily better than the other. Part of learning about garment quality is the context and purpose of the garment.

In a factory setting, each different stitch will require a separate industrial machine. These machines can be big financial investments, and often require a great deal of skill and training to operate at their best. Many of these stitches can also be found in smaller domestic sewing machines. Domestic sewing machines are often multi-purpose, offering many different stitch options. However, a domestic machine will often not stitch as accurately or quickly as its industrial counterparts.

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By looking at just one common article of clothing, we get a clearer sense of how devastating the tariff policy is. The premise is to bring jobs back to America—but the administration hasn’t even asked whether America has the skilled labor to do this work. We don’t.

Bra manufacturers are scouring for other Asian locations but they report it will take up to five years to reconfigure their supply chains. Meanwhile, consumers will pay a lot more or put up with uncomfortable undergarments that they cannot replace due to price.