By Liz Hershfield
The sourcing environment right now is unlike anything most of us have navigated in our careers. The trade landscape has shifted considerably, reshaping sourcing economics across multiple regions. Supply chains that looked efficient in one set of conditions have adapted quickly. And brands that optimized purely for cost are now reckoning with what it really means: margin exposure, lead time and the ability to respond when conditions change.
Fiber choice sits right in the middle of that reckoning. Where your fiber comes from, what you can verify about it and how it moves through the supply chain all have real consequences for cost, compliance and competitiveness. The brands thinking seriously about this are the ones building supply chains that can withstand a dynamic and volatile environment.
After 30 years in sourcing and supply chain, mostly on the brand side, I have learned that price is always a key consideration with U.S. cotton. But the question isn’t just raw material cost. It’s what the alternative actually costs you, in yields, compliance exposure, verifiable sustainability data and supply chain resilience. That’s where the real math lives and that’s the conversation worth having right now.
Quality That Delivers: From Field To Finished Garment
U.S. cotton’s fiber characteristics — length, uniformity and strength — consistently rank among the highest in the world. That matters at every stage of processing. Better fiber uniformity means fewer breaks in spinning, higher yields and more consistency in the dyeing and finishing stages. When you run the full cost-in-use analysis rather than stopping at price-per-pound, the gap with perceived lower-cost alternatives often becomes cost neutrality, if not cost savings.
This isn’t a claim I make lightly. Comparative fiber testing data backs it up and mills that have switched to U.S. cotton or increased their share of it report real, measurable improvements in processing efficiency. The technical work to prove this, done side-by-side with suppliers, is where COTTON USA’s team has been focused. We’re now extending that directly to brand partners — through the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol — who want to deploy this service in their supply chains to take full advantage of all that U.S. cotton has to offer.
A Sustainability Story Backed By Data
Most U.S. cotton comes from multi-generational family farms. Many of these growers have been practicing soil health-focused, reduced-input farming for years, well before “regenerative agriculture” became an industry buzzword.
What has changed is the ability to verify and communicate that. The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, now in its sixth year, gives brands field-to-mill audited aggregated data on water use, greenhouse gas emissions, soil health and energy efficiency. For the 2025 crop year, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol launched a dedicated Field Partner Program pilot for regenerative practices, testing a dual framework that combines verified practice adoption with quantifiable, data-driven outcomes, validated through field visits and satellite imagery analysis. Broader implementation is planned for 2026. This is serious, rigorous work: audited proof of practice at field level, not a marketing exercise.
Scrutiny on sustainability claims is intensifying. The EU Green Claims Directive is one example and U.S. regulatory attention is growing. Verified, supply chain-specific data has become a basic expectation, not a selling point. U.S. cotton also comes without the forced labor or deforestation risks that demand constant due diligence elsewhere. In the current environment, that clarity has real value.
The Latin America Connection: Nearshoring + U.S. Cotton
One of the biggest sourcing shifts I’ve watched over the past two years isn’t about fiber. It’s about geography. Latin America has gone from a supplemental sourcing option to a genuine strategic priority for many brands with U.S. distribution and the current trade environment has accelerated that considerably.
The reasons aren’t hard to see. Shipping times from Latin America to the U.S. run three to twelve days, making weekly replenishment cycles possible. That has direct consequences for inventory management: fewer markdowns, faster response to demand signals.
Trade agreements are also a meaningful part of the picture. Mexico and the U.S. have had a mutually beneficial trade relationship for more than 30 years. Today, USMCA offers duty- and tariff-free access for qualifying goods, helping to make Mexico one of the largest importers of U.S. cotton in Latin America. CAFTA-DR provides duty- and tariff-free entry for qualifying yarn-forward goods from Central America and the Dominican Republic and brands with strong rules of origin compliance are well-positioned to take advantage of that. CAFTA-DR’s FTA utilization rate reached 75.7% in 2025, up from 73% in 2024, reflecting growing investment in supply chains built to meet those requirements.
Across the region, the manufacturing offer has developed into a sophisticated operation: premium denim in Mexico and Guatemala; performance and activewear in Central America; and high-quality knitwear in Guatemala and Peru (which consistently ranks among the top three countries in the world by average apparel export price).
Additionally, there is the benefit — through the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol — of being able to trace a finished garment back to U.S.-grown fiber, through spinning, knitting, sewing and finishing, all within a compliant and audited nearshore supply chain: that’s a story more brands are starting to build and it’s one that resonates.
The Opportunity Ahead
The U.S. cotton industry continues to evolve by investing in technology, sustainability and technical support. For example, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol recently announced its partnership with Oritain implementing a forensic testing strategy to provide physical assurance along with the best-in-class digital traceability offering. Now, it’s time for brands to come to the table prepared to evaluate the full value case, not just compare price per pound.
The brands I keep an eye on are the ones asking hard questions about what goes into their products, where the fiber comes from and what they can actually prove. Some are smaller companies building natural-fiber commitments from scratch. Some are larger brands who are evolving their sourcing approach to include nominating fiber origin so they can benefit from a compliant supply chain and higher quality.
Connecting U.S. cotton to Latin American manufacturing, through strong trade partnerships, increased traceability and trusted supplier relationships, is a supply chain model with real integrity. It performs under pressure, it can be audited and it tells a coherent story from field to finished garment.
Behind that story is a U.S. cotton industry that supports communities in rural America, providing more than 200,000 jobs across roughly 14,000 farms. These aren’t passive operations waiting to be sourced from. They’re investing in their practices, their data and their connections to the brands and mills downstream. When you go and actually look at what’s been built, the case makes itself.
Editor’s Note: Liz Hershfield is Executive Director of COTTON USA™ and Director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol.
2026 Quarterly Issue I
