Winthrop said the initial partnership with Walmart exceeded sales expectations for both parties, leading to the sweatshirt launch and more product releases planned for the future. The brand’s Walmart products are a tier below its direct-to-consumer offerings in quality, but that was an intentional trade-off to get the price down to around $13 to compete with ultra-cheap products regularly imported from China, Winthrop said.

The latter has increasingly become a bogeyman in the American fashion landscape, driven by the continued growth of companies like Shein and Temu, whose low costs undercut even the cheapest of goods made in the U.S.

“Over the last 30 years, so much manufacturing has left the U.S.,” Winthrop said.

While designers like Markarian are able to produce small-batch, high-cost clothing in places like New York City, large-scale manufacturing of apparel is rare in the U.S. In 2023, less than 4% of clothing bought in the U.S. was made there. Winthrop said offshoring creates a domino effect where American manufacturers lose business, which lessens their capability and leads to layoffs, which in turn convinces more businesses to move their manufacturing elsewhere. “Offshoring erodes what makes us competitive,” he said.

Trump has proposed a variety of flat tariffs on imported goods, from a flat 20% on all goods to harsher tariffs of as much as 60% for goods from China. If these tariffs come to fruition, they would be “massively disruptive” to the American economy, Winthrop said. But he added that sweeping, flat tariffs on all goods leave less room for loopholes like sending goods through proxy nations that larger companies could potentially exploit.

Winthrop said that Walmart’s support, and specifically its pledge to buy a certain volume of product from American Giant each year, has given both the brand and its manufacturing partners the capital needed to invest in new equipment and production infrastructure. That creates a positive feedback loop where more investment feeds more demand and more American-made products. Winthrop pointed to one manufacturer’s recent acquisition of a $150,000 drying machine which has tripled its textile output since fabric can be dried much quicker. The scale is also what lets American Giant sell American-made goods at a low price point.

While some, like the National Retail Federation, have cautioned about the impact of Trump tariffs on American consumers’ spending power, other experts told Glossy it’s possible that the rules could be a good opportunity for brands to reset their supply chains.

“Higher tariffs can also create opportunities for businesses to increase their competitiveness by exploring domestic or near-shore production and forming new partnerships that reduce exposure to tariff-related costs,” said Paul Magel, president of supply chain tech solutions for the apparel industry at consulting company CGS.

Warding off ultra-cheap Chinese companies and strengthening America’s economic position has been the closest thing to a bipartisan cause and common thread between both the Biden and Trump administrations, Winthrop said. Both administrations have made American manufacturing central policies, including the Biden administration’s establishment of the Made in America Office in 2020. Winthrop said that, a few years ago, if he had been asked if it was truly possible to revitalize American textile manufacturing, he may not have said yes.

“But the new administration does seem to be gearing up for war on this issue,” Winthrop said. “If you have significant trade policy changes, it puts reshoring manufacturing jobs back in play in a way that did not seem possible before. For the first time since starting American Giant, I truly think it’s possible.”