Fabric Trade: An Industry in Crisis

This article presents the empirical results of an intra-industry trade analysis of the United States fabric industry. The analysis included 92 countries in four Standard Industrialized Trade Classification (SITC) categories that represent the fabric industry. Results indicated that intra-industry trade levels were generally low, and country specific factors such as levels of economic development, levels of market size and trade deficit were negatively associated with intra-industry trade levels, while distance and trade barriers were somewhat positively associated. These results have strong implications for trade analysts, policy makers and fabric manufacturers as this industry is currently undergoing changes.