Joe Nicosia, Head of Cotton at Louis Dreyfus Company and 2024 National Cotton Council Chairman, believes it’s time for the U.S. cotton industry to reset its thinking and approach to trade, marketing, consumer education – practically everything. He came to his annual Cotton Outlook presentation at the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show with plenty of details to back up his reasoning.

“I wanted to try to present what I think is the call to action to try to save our industry,” he says.

Nicosia covered a lot of ground during his presentation. Here are just a few of the highlights – and some food for thought.

About China

“China is critical to the United States cotton industry. Vietnam and Bangladesh are actually going to import more cotton, but China is still the largest user of cotton and the largest exporter of textile and apparel products in the world. The importance of trying to find out how much Chinese imports are going to be and how much demand they have for the U.S. cotton is going to be generated by the level of consumption and what their next year’s production is going to be.

“We’re going to raise tariffs on them again, and we get retaliation. We’ve already seen this play out four years ago. We know that Chinese retaliation to the United States involves agriculture, because they know we’re in a competitive situation against Brazil and other countries. They can use that, because they know it causes turmoil inside the U.S. and causes anxiety in farm communities reaching across many states. If we come to a deal, it shouldn’t take as long as last time, because we already have a framework from the Phase One program.”

About Brazil and Australia

“Brazil is not going away. They now grow almost 50% more cotton than the United States. Australia will continue to grow cotton as long as they have water. Their crop is doing very well. And when we put these two competitors together, it’s shocking. Combined exports for Brazil and Australia in 2017/2018 were just under 12 million bales. They’re almost 22.5 million bales this year and going higher next year.

“We have to admit the United States is not going to beat Brazil. Cotton is a second crop there, usually after soybeans. Every time soybean acres increase, corn or cotton acres expand by default because they plant two crops. Their ability to increase common acres is tremendous.”

On Exports

“We’re getting trounced on the export side. Brazilian exports have passed the United States. We have a battle on everything we do for the U.S. economy, which is why we continue to push forward. If we don’t compete, we will get beat. We need to do better at everything, whether it’s production, warehousing, shipping, or merchandise.

“We are doing really well in Mexico. Yet from the U.S. cotton industry’s side, tariffs into Mexico would be devastating. We know the Mexican products are made with U.S. cotton. But how do they compete to sell their goods back into the U.S. with a 25% tariff against goods coming in from other countries?”

On Competition from Polyester

The U.S. passed the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act, stating that cotton from Xinjiang products made with forced labor would not be allowed into the U.S. There’s probably nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but what’s the implication of that?

“If you tell China – the world’s largest exporter of cotton textile and apparel products, as well as the world’s largest manufacturer of polyester – that they can’t bring their cotton products into the U.S., then what do you import? You import polyester.

“One of the unintended consequences of this law has been to hurt cotton consumption in the United States by preventing imports of cotton products and supporting polyester.”

Some Suggestions

“The consumer in the world needs to find out about biodegradable, sustainable cotton versus polyester. The awareness, I believe, is beginning to get some traction, but we’ve got a long way to go. We need a surge in world demand. We need the ability to increase the pie. We need to change behaviors over the long term.

“My message is it’s time to face reality. Remember the old adage, if you can’t beat them, join them? I think instead of fighting for the U.S. market share, we should join with Brazil and Australia and find ways to grow the pie. It’s time for us to unite as cotton producers around the world to quit fighting against each other and focus on beating polyester.

“We have to do a better job communicating. We’re really good at preaching to the choir. We have to devote sufficient resources to make consumers aware of the benefits of cotton as a natural fiber. We need to seek opportunities in the world for the benefits of cotton. It means delivering the message at other venues, not just cotton meetings. We need to enlist the help of environmental groups, NGOs, health organizations, universities, and others to demonstrate the benefits of cotton.

“We need other people to get our message out more broadly to other audiences, not just to ourselves. We need to highlight the negativity that polyester brings with it. Health impacts. Environmental impacts. There are other people who believe certain things that we believe. We need to explore legislative and regulatory approaches. Take a more creative approach, tapping the advantages of using celebrities, influencers, brands, and things like that.

“We have good organizations that are working to promote content. I’d like to ask these organizations to develop a Department of Cotton Advocacy. Work together and knock on the doors of universities, of ABC/NBC/CBS, of the World Wildlife Association – groups who may be telling the story about the risks of microfibers from polyester better than we’re telling our story.

“The American Cotton Shippers Association signed Memorandums of Understanding a year or so ago between the U.S., Brazil, and Australia to promote cotton use, but we weren’t really sure how to do it. Together, I think we can find a way.”