Clothing manufacturing Jobs

Hillary Clinton released a new television ad Wednesday blasting Donald Trump on outsourcing clothing manufacturing jobs, just as the Democratic nominee rolled out a new plan to “jumpstart” small businesses nationwide.

The 30-second spot features the New England Shirt Company in Fall River, Massachusetts - a factory that has been around since 1883 - and its 60-person operation creating clothes labeled “Made in America.”

“Donald Trump’s brand of shirts come from China, his suits from Mexico, his coats from India, ” says Robert Kidder, the owner of the shirt factory, in the ad. “Trump’s products have been made in 12 other countries because he says there’s no place in America that he can make them.

“Well, ” Kidder says, as a montage of American workers manning the factory assembly line flashes on-screen, “there is.”

“You know, Donald Trump says he’ll make America great again, ” the owner concludes, “while he’s taking the shirts right off our backs.”

Watch the ad - called “Shirts” - here:

Trump, in an interview in early May, addressed the criticisms that his own apparel line, the Donald J. Trump Collection, was made overseas, claiming that companies in the U.S. simply “don’t make them here anymore.”

In America, “they don’t make a lot of these products, ” Trump told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.

The FactCheck.org website assessed Trump’s claim at that time, saying that while most clothing purchased in the U.S. is made abroad (about 97 percent, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association), Trump’s statement that none are made in America goes too far.

“Many of AAFA’s members make clothes and shoes in the United States, ” according to a statement released to FactCheck.org by AAFA’S Natalie LaBella. “The member companies encompass a wide range of products and brands – including large and small companies, public and private firms, and companies manufacturing for the commercial market and making uniforms and other apparel and footwear for the U.S. military.”