The Battle Over Where Cashmere Sweaters are Spun

With the evenings getting darker earlier and temperatures beginning to cool, it can only mean one thing: Cashmere season is coming. Once a luxury only the well-heeled could afford (think twin-sets paired with pearls), cashmere is now available at almost every price point thanks to deals from a number of retailers. A quick hop around some shopping sites found that at Everlane, the San Francisco-based direct-to-consumer retailer, a woman’s cashmere sweater is priced at $100; at Uniqlo, it’s $89.90, and at H&M they can be found for $35.99. The list goes on. And while some retailers like Asos have banned the sale of clothing containing cashmere and H&M plans to phase out conventional cashmere due to sustainability concerns, business is still booming, with the U.S. importing $362 million worth of cashmere sweaters last year. But like other consumer-facing industries, the sector is about to face cost pressure as the Trump administration is preparing in mid-December to impose 15 percent tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports of apparel and footwear that have yet to be targeted, including cashmere sweaters. This is likely to have a significant impact, since American retailers are particularly reliant on China for production, with over 80 percent of imported cashmere sweaters coming

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