Making It in America

The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)

Pantheon Books, 2024

15 min read

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A Maine apparel maker’s success shows that a revival of US manufacturing is both critical and conceivable.

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Rachel Slade makes a compelling case for US domestic manufacturing. Her narrative centers on the struggles and successes of Ben and Whitney Waxman, apparel producers in Maine. They launched their daunting entrepreneurial venture, American Roots, in 2015 when US apparel production and employment had shifted to other nations. The Waxmans started their company to thwart that trend by making vests and, later, cotton hoodies in the United States using domestic materials. Slade shows how they prevailed and argues persuasively that America needs more makers.

Summary

International trade policy shifted apparel production out of the United States.

As the American economy industrialized in the 19th and 20th centuries, workers’ union representation spread from New England’s textile mills to West Virginia’s coal mines. Organized labor brought legal protections to American workers. By the 1960s, about one in three workers belonged to a union, although political conservatives steadfastly claimed that unions were bad for business.

In the 1980s, economist Milton Friedman won adherents in both political parties by contending that an economy unencumbered by labor laws and other constraints would flourish, benefiting every segment of society. Union opponents argued that a “free market” performs best.

In 1993, the United States, Mexico, and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated tariffs on products made mostly inside the three countries. The United States and other nations subsequently created the World Trade Organization (WTO) to enforce international trade rules.

NAFTA’s first few years hit US apparel production hard. Clothing companies moved stitching...

About the Author

Rachel Slade also wrote bestseller Into the Raging Sea, a New York Times Notable Book, winner of the Maine Literary Book Award and the Mountbatten Award for Best Book.

Rachel Slade

Making It in America

The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)

What's inside?

Editorial Rating

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Summary

International trade policy shifted apparel production out of the United States.

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