Second-Hand Clothing Trade Essay Example

The engagement in international second-hand clothing trade is an uncommon practice in the industry and has raised many controversies. The point is whether it is a case of helping or hindering. Second-hand clothing is a global phenomenon that has recently come up due to expanding trade in different countries especially those associated with practices of high-level trading activities and practices for consumption and the main reason for these is that the surplus of West's clothing and charitable giving fuel for this kind of trade. Clothing exports are initiated in the US, Western Europe as well as Japan in that the public makes donations for the clothes that they consider out of fashion to the charity shops and other textile merchants who have the responsibility of recycling and exporting to other countries.

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The trade is complicated, but there has been a streaming flow of second-hand clothes in most countries especially those located in Africa in huge volumes making the business grow tremendously. My perspective of the case is whether the trade is helping or hindering the economy of the countries to which they are exported. Karen evaluates using value chain analysis to determine the operations of this kind of trade and how it affects the countries considering who the beneficiaries are (Rose 2005). The definition of helping is to offer assistance to an individual in their current state where they are not able to manage. In helping, the one requiring the help is in a critical condition, and it would be bad if they are left to work out on their own. For assistance, the individual can do something for themselves, and they only require a little boost to reach better levels. Hindering on the other side is a case of making it difficult for the individual they are helping to attain their goals because there is an influence on one of the factors being considered.

Karen (2004) states the long history of international second-hand clothing trade as being the subject to fluctuations of supply as well as the demand in most domestic and foreign markets. What the industry does is that the worn, damaged garments and those of poor quality undergo processing into fibers for use in production. They then use the build warehouses and plants for sorting to carry out activities of sorting the clothing using the clothing recyclers. The sorting is done regarding the type of the garment, the fabric as well as the quality (Karen 400). The workers then set aside particular period clothing that the domestic and foreign buyers can purchase as they are on the lookout for stylish garments to suit their vintage market that keeps changing and demanding that people be up to date. The remaining clothes are then compressed into standard packages of bales weighing 50 kgs where clothes of lowest quality are dispatched to Africa while the medium quality is exported to regions like Latin America. Japan receives top-quality items compared to other areas. The main point comes in the countries that receive these clothes as imports where people argue that in some it is a case of helping and in others it is a case of hindering. My point of view is that the second-hand clothing trade hinders development and growth of the regions where they are considered as imports for many reasons that I will list below. A case of the deal in the news is that the ministries of trade and commerce are not in support of the business since they stated that the reasons for objections mainly lie in the sector for issues of hygiene and public health. They found out that the imports on second-hand clothing and footwear lead to infections of foot-and-mouth disease and that has led to banning of the imports of garments such as used underwear which is with the aim of preventing skin problems and venereal diseases which are contagious. This is in support of my point of stating that second-hand clothing trade is hindering the state of development for other nations because they incur more in treating these diseases that were not initially intended for and that it all goes a long way into affecting the people involved in other sectors of their functional abilities. There are more negative effects of this trade to the third world countries. The case of infections is that the business hinders the well-being of the citizens as much as they try to maintain good healthcare. They are putting their condition in major threats likely to affect them not only health-wise but also the economic sector.

The argument for helping describe the importance of the relations that the trade will bring between the nations involved. US participation in the trade with countries in Africa where the majority of them lie in the third world countries consisting of low levels of technology helps to build their relationship and strengthen the market (Na'amneh, Al Husban 2012). The reason behind the participation of the undeveloped countries in the trade is that they will be set for more prominent deals with the developed countries to ensure more growth. Recent cases and statistics show that these African countries continue to accumulate debts in US and China because of their imports to the countries hence building trade relations. What they do not know is that these debts put may put the states in situations that they are not able to pay and the developed nations will be required to take over their operations and do the management on their behalf causing intrusion. Thus, stating that the trade in second-hand clothing is helping countries is to say that the developing countries only benefit from funds that they are given because of good relations.

The case for helping from other people's view is that there is a general growth in the fabric industry that processes the clothes and sorts them for export. There is a new life that raw materials of imported and domestic clothing get through the processes of recycling (Hansen 1999). Additionally, these procedures require workers and hence lead to the creation of employment to the citizens in those countries. The ultimate goal of a country is to develop their industrial sector to create jobs for its citizens, and it is only better if the goal is achieved. When countries establish links between domains in the global economy and the recycling of clothes, there is an illuminating light cast on the growth of the economy. The view on helping is logical but does not add up to the needs of the majorities in the countries that are struggling to develop.

Conclusion

I support my view on hindering by describing the impacts of the trade on the economy of a country. In most cases, the second-hand clothing trade leads to stagnating growth of the countries to which they are exported through the local industries (Tito, 2015). Generally, the importation kills local industry products since the people start to prefer different items and, in this case, they are cheaper than those locally produced. The Western influence also contributes to people liking to associate themselves with things from other developed countries which they consider the best. These clothing imports have adverse effects on domestic textile and garment industries. Some countries have banned the import of second-hand clothing because of the significant threat to their locally produced items, and such a country is Indonesia. Second-hand clothing tends to disrupt the retail industry as well as the clothing and garment sectors that are owned by countries because of the citizen's preference for cheaper items from other regions. However, the fact that the trade is prevalent shows that the allegations for dumping effects of such clothing define the ignorance from different dynamics of trade. The examples mentioned above support the point of hindering because it is not logic that a country will continue to allow the influence of other nations to the country that poses threats to their domestic industries. Countries must try to develop and support their industries instead of trying to build relationships that will make them end up in debts. There is a need for better economic growth focused on the country's local resources because they go a long way in building better forms of trade and ensuring that they utilize their resources to the maximum.

References

Hansen, Karen Tranberg. Africa (Edinburgh University Press). 1999, Vol. 69 Issue 3, p343-365. 23p.

Tito Carlos Machado Oliveira; Fernanda Loureiro Ferreira. In: GeoTextos, Vol 11, Iss 2 (2015)

Rose Lukalo-Owino. Toronto Star (Canada). 03/26/2005

Na'amneh, M.M.; Al Husban, A.K. Social Identities. Sep2012, Vol. 18 Issue 5, p609-621. 13p. DOI: 10.1080/13504630.2012.692897.

Karen Tranberg Hansen. In: Anthropology Today. 20(4):3-9; Royal Anthropological Institute, 2004.