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Trade liberalization and patterns of strategic adjustment in the US textiles and clothing industry Belay Seyoum U.S.A. International Business Review ,Issue 16 ,2007 Belay Seyoum Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale , FL 33314, USA Received 2 December 2005; received in revised form 17 April 2006, 11 October 2006, 23 November 2006; accepted13 December 2006 The overall environment facing the US industry will one of rapidly changing market conditions and technological innovation. With the phase out of quotas and growing number of trade agreements, the US TC industry is being exposed to intense competition in export and domestic markets. This is likely to lead domestic industries/labor to demand intervention by national governments to mitigate the adverse impact of trade liberalization ( Standbury Vertinksy, 2004). In spite of the substantial job losses, the US TC industry remains technologically advanced partly due to increased productivity resulting from advances in technology and design capabilities. Textile production is capital intensive and modern technology is essential to meet the increasing for high-quality products. Over the last few years, US textiles and apparel firms have substantially increased their investment to maintain modern manufacturing facilities as well as improve production and marketing capabilities in order to maximize their inherent advantages to market proximity. In apparel, low skill production jobs have moved to low-cost locations offshore while the more skilled ones have been retained. To successfully adapt to the new environment, US TC industries need to capitalize on their sources of competitive advantage. They need to develop a more flexible operational arrangement, meet high standards in product innovation and generally develop a more change-seeking business culture (Kilduff, 2005). An important survival tool for US TC firms is to expand their potential market by offering new product designs and