Supply Chain Research

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo brand will reportedly shift the supplier base for its U.S. stores toward south-east Asia and away from China and in response to U.S. duties. The latter already applies to $38.7 billion of annual imports of apparel, footwear and textiles from China by all U.S. importers as of Sept. 1. Uniqlo has been growing rapidly, with U.S. seaborne imports associated with the firm having jumped by 26.6% year over year in 2018. There’s been renewed growth of 8.2% in July and 29.5% in August as the firm builds up inventories, likely ahead of the new tariffs. The need for action i...