In 2026, the fabric foreign trade industry is facing multiple adjustments in trade policies, with the global market pattern showing significant differentiation. China's fabric exports are ushering in structural opportunities amid challenges. At the start of the year, Mexico imposed additional tariffs of 5%-50% on textile and garment products, directly impacting China's export link to the North American market. The textile export volume to Mexico exceeding 10 billion US dollars in 2024 is facing pressure from rising customs clearance costs, and the raw material procurement and finished product export costs of local production enterprises have risen simultaneously. Meanwhile, India's PLI textile incentive plan has been extended to March 2026, with its garment exports growing by 9% year-on-year in the first quarter, and the price competition in the mid-to-low-end fabric market has further intensified, becoming a major competitive barrier for Chinese fabric enterprises.

From the perspective of domestic policies, the tariffs on core textile raw materials have been significantly reduced. The tariffs on uncombed wool and combed wool have been reduced to 1% and 3% respectively, and key raw materials such as cotton have been included in the reduction and exemption scope, which has significantly reduced the procurement costs of spinning enterprises and released profit margins for the fabric production side. Market data shows that in 2025, China's fabric exports reached 69.09 billion US dollars, a slight increase of 1.0% year-on-year. Asia remains the core market, accounting for 66.6%. Among them, exports to emerging markets such as Pakistan and Nigeria increased by more than 29%, becoming the core of foreign trade growth.

Faced with market changes, fabric foreign trade enterprises need to adjust their layout quickly: in the short term, divert North American orders through transit trade in RCEP member countries, and optimize the layout of emerging markets in Latin America and Africa in the long term; at the same time, avoid homogeneous competition with India and other countries, shift to the high-end functional fabric track, and improve product cost performance with the dividend of raw material tariffs to achieve a double breakthrough in market and products.