United States Of America : Cut-Throat International Competition Hurts U.S. Textile Producers

The cutbacks came piece by piece, starting in 1994 for Miami textile manufacturers Alan and Steve Stark, whose Carmel Textiles was founded 25 years ago on $3,000 and the brimming confidence of youth.

Their orders began to drop off as customers sought cheaper suppliers offshore after implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994. Four years later, the Stark brothers phased out dyeing operations in their Hialeah plant, which, at its peak, produced 6.5 million yards of cloth a year.

They kept the knitting operations as they pared employment from 200 workers to around 30. For the dyeing, they sent the finished fabric over to Arca Knitting, run by fellow manufacturer and fishing pal Jorge Canals.

But more customers turned to overseas producers. Big apparel names such as Nike went from obtaining more than half their products in the United States to just 10 percent to 15 percent today. Some U.S. factories go offshore, primarily to China. Others simply shutter for good.

Arca Knitting is feeling the pressure too. ''''The decision to stay or go we look at every day,'''' Canals said.

These local textile veterans echo the industry''s concerns that cut-throat competition, particularly from China, is making it impossible for them to stay in business. Free-trade agreements open the way for companies to move offshore; lower tariffs guarantee entry of goods; and even China''s artificially undervalued currency, which makes Chinese textile exports even cheaper, has taken its toll.

The growing concern over the shuttering of U.S. factories is sparking a growing public debate across the country and has become a campaign issue for Democratic presidential hopefuls.