The timing matters. The World Meteorological Organization says **** was the second- or third-warmest year on record, while ****–**** were the hottest ** years recorded. In apparel, that heat is no longer a background ESG issue. It is a capacity constraint. More cooling demand stresses grids; grid stress pushes factories onto diesel; expensive diesel tempts smaller factories to reduce fans and cooling; productivity, quality and worker safety then deteriorate.
After the US Supreme Court struck down IEEPA-based tariffs in February ****, trade-policy volatility did not vanish. But for textiles and apparel, the more immediate short-cycle shock is physical: energy reliability inside the factory gate and across the wet-processing chain. A customs strategy cannot fix a dyehouse without steam or a sewing line that cannot run fans.
