The Obama administration has fast-tracked the initiative they've called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If you've heard about this, you may have heard the famous "NAFTA on Steriods" from Elizibeth Warren.
NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed between Canada and the USA in the mid-ninteties and has since been held up as the reason for jobs leaving America. Since the Canadian dollar is usually worth 20% less than the USD, it was a natural move for companies looking to save a few dollars and have no cultural issues.
The agreement will be among U.S. and Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam to gradually reduce and in some cases eliminate tariffs, and otherwise promote trade. Given the amount of apparel made in markets like Malaysia and Vietnam US companies stand to benefit.
The catch could be in provisions made within the agreement. For example, the agreement could require that signatories to the agreement must have a certain percentage of raw materials sourced within the country where they’re made.This would make for a radical change in sourcing and production. This provision is only hypothetical, but we'll have to wait and see how this develops.
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