Lovely discusses India's COVID crisis, US textile imports with NBC

June 3, 2021

NBC

Mary E. Lovely

Economics Department

COVID-19

India

Trade

United States

NBC

Mary E. Lovely

As the coronavirus pandemic tears across India, forcing garment factories to shut down or work at half capacity to stem new cases, retail suppliers are scrambling to move production to China. But with trade war tariffs still in play, the shift could mean higher prices for U.S. consumers. While India constitutes a smaller fraction of imports as compared to China, it still plays a significant role in certain sectors, including raw gems, which makes it difficult to move supply chains outside the country, says Professor Mary Lovely. "If India dropped off the face of the world, where you would notice an impact is certainly in manufactured goods, textile and mill products and things like cloth and towels," she says. "You don't just move supply chains. They’re not like pins on a map." Read more in the NBC News article, "India's COVID crisis has ripple effects for garment industry worldwide."