During the last 10 years, the U.S. textile industry has undergone massive changes. Imports were disruptive, so the industry moved to countries with lower labor costs. This caused a ripple affect on the cotton industry so to counter those conditions, the U.S. entered into agreements with various countries, including China, to restrict imports and phase them back in slowly. According to Don Ethridge with the Cotton Economics Research Institute at Texas Tech University, the agreement with China has ended, so the concern is the unkown impact during this last step or phase out of trade barriers.