Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that global garment and footwear producers are experiencing difficulties in transitioning to supply chains outside of China, according to reports from several apparel makers and factory owners.

Finding alternative production hubs have proven to be the greatest difficulty, with some even reversing course and returning to the mainland, as growing economic uncertainties around the world and sluggish consumer demand weighed on their businesses.

Laura Magill, the global head of sustainability at Bata Group, the footwear brand, noted it is “hard to copy” the mature production environment in China, which has taken decades to develop, which ensures competitive price points and can produce a replicable level of quality at large scales of manufacturing.

It had been reported earlier in the year in various media outlets that fashion companies in the US and the EU were attempting to ease themselves away from their dependence on factories in China, and stop using the nation as their top suppliers, as geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing grew as the trade war between the two superpowers accelerated.

It was reported that some producers were able to move their production lines to Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Türkiye, and Portugal.

Bloomberg reported that one producer who owned apparel factories in and around China’s Guangzhou, Lin Feng, said that he decided to “test the waters” by launching a new production line for ladies dresses in Hanoi.

However he reported that despite the salaries in Hanoi being less than he was paying in Guangzhou, overseas customers were wary, and orders for his products fell significantly. As a result, he exited Vietnam, moving his operations back to Guangzhou in 2022, where he now manufactures the clothes for his mostly American and European customers.

Lin said, “There’s no point talking about expansion or overseas shifts now. With weak demand, low labor costs and tariff exemptions are meaningless.”