The competitiveness of the Turkish clothing sector in the EU-15 market post the world trade organization agreement on textiles and clothing

The clothing industry is a locomotive sector due to its contribution to the production, employment and exports of underdeveloped and developing countries' economies. Unlike other sectors, trade in the clothing sector and the textile industry was not based on free trade rules for a long time (1960-2004). After the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), trade began to be carried out according to free trade rules due to the abolition of quotas in 2005. This study aims to analyze the competitiveness of Turkey, China and India in the EU-15 market since the textile and clothing trade began to be carried out based on the free trade rules. The study covers the period from 2004 to 2019. Its study data were collected from the UNCOMTRADE database. Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) and Trade Balance Index (TBI) were calculated for 37 four-digit sub-product groups according to Standard International Trade Classification Revision 3 (SITC Rev.3). This study uses Widodo's method. A product map of Turkey, China and India was constructed, and the Comparative Export Performance Index and the Intra-industry Trade Index were also calculated. The fact that there are no studies of the product map of the clothing sector in the EU-15 market that use Widodo's method at the level of 37 four-digit sub-product groups distinguishes this study from other studies and its contribution to the literature. The study found that Turkey, China and India have the comparative advantage in the vast majority of 37 sub-product groups in the EU-15 market, and that they are net exporters. It determined that the trade takes the form of inter-industry trade, and the main differences emerged in the export performance of these countries compared to one another. Turkey needs to increase its numbers of products with high export performance in order to remain competitive against rival countries. In particular, value-added product production, branding, Research & Development and design should be emphasized.