Sharing a Common Thread

Cotton textiles touch every aspect of our lives.

For years, cotton clothing, home furnishings and industrial goods have enhanced our quality of life by providing comfort, expression and individuality. From towels to T-shirts, from bedding to blue jeans, cotton surrounds us on a daily basis.

The National Cotton Council of America (NCC) is proud to say that cotton is playing an even greater role in our every day lives ? and is an integral part of the U.S. textile manufacturing sector's rapid growth. For example, cotton is the dominant fiber in apparel, having captured two-thirds of that market; cotton towels remain enormously popular with consumers; and 100 percent cotton sheets are regaining prominence in the market. This helps explain why U.S. manufacturers are now using more than 5.5 billion pounds of cotton annually ? the most since 1942.

The strong demand for cotton products also explains textile manufacturing's extensive employment and economic benefits. Cotton undergirds a textile sector that provides jobs in all 50 states, employing more people than any other industry ? more than autos and more than steel. Textile manufacturing creates jobs in industries that supply mills with equipment and services. Spending by textile manufacturing employees supports local businesses and provides larger tax revenues that create public sector jobs. Economists report that manufacturing jobs create three times as many support jobs as a service job and four and a half times more than a retail position.

A combination of important factors are responsible for the doubling of U.S. cotton production and offtake since the mid-80s:

• well-funded promotional programs,
• a high-quality product improved through research,
• the best service and marketing system among the world's cotton producing countries
• a government program that, for the first time, enabled US cotton to be price competitive in the global market under virtually any supply/demand conditions.

All of these are vital to U.S. cotton's exceptional progress.