The U.S. Commercial Service is your export partner! 

And, the Textiles and Apparel Team is your contact for all industry specific issues.

We are on the ground throughout the USA and in all major markets and offer a wide range of services. From getting started with exporting to finding distribution partners to translating to getting invoices paid, we can be your right hand at locations around the world.

Working together with The Office of Textiles and Apparel, better known as OTEXA, we get U.S. products into markets around the world and help keep our industry viable in the USA.

Locating an office in the U.S. or abroad is easy, simply go to www.export.gov, contact us and click find an office. Or visit us at: www.buyusa.gov

Exporting is an excellent way to expand your business:

• Our Basic Guide to Exporting, export webinars, Online Basic Exporting Course and market research webcasts can get you started exporting 

• Our extensive market research library can help you identify the best markets for your products

• Our doing business in ....... guides provide the basics for doing business in a given country

• Trade specialists in each country with a focus on your industry can help assess market potential for your products and find the right business partners and customers in their markets. They speak the local language and are familiar with the local customs; invaluable and often underestimated assets in foreign markets

• We help you make the most or your trade fair exhibitions and visits by partnering with trade fair organizers, identifying contacts and arranging appointments as well as promoting your exhibition and products to prospective buyers around the world in advance of the fair as well as holding other promotional events in conjunction with trade fairs

• Industry specific teams focus on the issues concerning your industry segment and broker business opportunities - visit The Textiles and ApparelTeam's new e- market Express coming soon to: http://www.buyusa.gov/eme/ta.html 

• The U.S. Department of Commerce is actively involved in intellectual property protection – you can find out more at http://www.stopfakes.gov

Did you know that the U.S. textile industry:

• is one of the largest manufacturing employers in the United States. The overall textile sector employed nearly one million workers (862,800) in 2006. Textile mills alone employed 356,700 workers.

• is the 3rd largest exporter of textile products in the world with more than $16.5 billion in goods exported in 2006.

• exported two-thirds of its production to developing countries in 2006. The U.S. textile industry exported to more than 50 countries, with 20 countries buying more than $100 million worth of U.S. product a year.

• supplies more than 8,000 different textile products a year to the U.S. military.

• shipped a total of $67 billion worht of goods in 2006.

• invested more than $8 billion in new plants and equipment between 2001 and 2005.

• has increased productivity by 49 percent over the last 10 years and ranks third among all industrial sectors in productivity increases.

• is a socially responsible employer. On average, workers earned 117.4% more than clothing store workers ($509 a week vs. $234) and also received health care and pension benefits.

(Source: National Coalition of Textile Organizations and US Department of Commerce Trade and Labor Statistics)