At the North Hall of the convention center in Las Vegas, Nevada, where ASD Market Week 2026 opened on the 25th, South Korea ran a Korea Pavilion for three days with 150 booths from 140 small and midsize companies. Riding the popularity of K-pop and K-dramas, Korean beauty and fashion products drew heavy attention. Across the aisle, Chinese booths displayed socks, dolls and sundries, leading with price competitiveness. Companies had gathered at the flagship trade show of the world’s largest consumer market and were working to meet their own goals, such as finding shelf space at local retail chains.
But among the Chinese companies across from the Korea Pavilion stood one booth that stood out. Above it, alongside a U.S. flag and the words “Made in USA,” was a sign reading: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Textiles and Apparel. It was the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) under the International Trade Administration (ITA) — a booth set up by a U.S. government agency. Attendees, apparently puzzled by a government booth among corporate exhibitors from around the world, stopped to ask what it was.
OTEXA is an organization under the Commerce Department created to strengthen the international competitiveness of the U.S. textile, fabric, apparel and footwear industries. It is led by the deputy assistant secretary for textiles, consumer goods and materials, who also chairs the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), which coordinates textile trade policy across agencies. So why was a Commerce Department unit running a booth at ASD Market Week, North America’s largest consumer goods expo?
The booth, out of place at a trade show, was set up to publicize a free search service for U.S.-made textile, apparel and footwear products — the Made in the USA Sourcing & Products Directory. The aim is to gather U.S. textile firms across weaving, nonwovens, cutting, sewing, printing and finishing in one place so users can find information easily.
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