The textile industry in general is in a critical moment and Hilados is no exception to that reality,” stated Hugo Benítez, general secretary of the Association of Textile Workers of Argentina. SMEs hit The president of the Chamber of Clothing Industry of Rosario and board member of the Entrepreneurs Association of Rosario, Mario Giambattistelli, warned about the difficult situation of Argentine SMEs due to the indiscriminate release of imports. According to the textile entrepreneur, the phenomenon of importation “has been intensifying.” “The destruction of the national industry is a state policy, ordered, systematic and developed by this Government from the first moment,” he sentenced on Radio 750 and added that, for this reason, “it is not casual.” Last year, the leader had calculated that 80% of the 400 factories that make up the entity became importers. Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Fundación Protejer, Priscilla Makari, spoke on Radio Provincia about the social and economic costs of the “avalanche” of imported clothing through applications like Shein and Temu. Fast Fashion “There is a world fast fashion model that generates clothing all the time, many collections of synthetic fiber, with polluting and non-natural materials,” she expressed. She also commented with concern that this clothing is often produced under unfair competition conditions, without adequate regulations. For this reason, she stated that “the world began to understand this situation and started to regulate the platforms and this type of commerce.” However, she emphasized that Argentina is going against the world. Tucumán, January 17, 2026 (NA) -- TN & Platex, one of the leading firms in the textile sector, had to halt the Hilados SA plant it has in the locality of Los Gutiérrez, in the province of Tucumán, and suspended nearly 200 workers. While the measure is in effect, the workers will suffer a 30% salary reduction, to which is added that they are owed the payment of the December bonus and the vacations that were advanced, as the Noticias Argentinas agency was able to find out. Hilados, from the Karagozian business group, produced fabrics for bedding, upholstery, and shirts, and has to lower its shutters with the same arguments as other colleagues who had to take the same path: the fall in internal consumption and the entry of merchandise from abroad. Although the report is until February 28, the union sector warned that in the coming days the company could present a preventive crisis procedure, a mechanism that would open the doors to massive layoffs and changes in working conditions. “We are bad. While others close borders, in Argentina they open them.” Meanwhile, he told the country that receives used clothing and 86% of that clothing enters through the Jujuy customs. It comes from the Atacama Desert in Chile with origin in the United States. It is the clothing that North Americans cannot incinerate due to soil contamination and they export it to countries that do receive it. The chemicals with which they treat these garments, or the bacteria with which they may have been in contact, “are really dangerous,” he concluded. The Federation of Argentine Textile Industries (FITA) says that in the last two years surveyed, more than 16,000 jobs have been lost. According to the FITA report, —which represents almost all of the 4,000 companies and establishments operating in the textile and garment sector (spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing and suppliers)—, the textile activity registered a year-on-year drop of 24%.
