US manufacturers should focus on tanks, tech, AI, not textiles: Trump

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in New Jersey, Trump said he agreed with the recent remark by treasury secretary Scott Bessent that the United States does not necessarily need a ‘booming textile industry’. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) had criticised Bessent’s comments.

"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," Trump said.

"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," Trump was quoted as saying by global newswires.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) responded by saying that that tariffs are not good for the industry.

"With 97 per cent 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," AAFA president Steve Lamar said in a statement.

"More tariffs will only mean higher input costs for US manufacturers and higher prices that will hurt lower income consumers," he noted.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)