What is the passage mainly about?

The delicate material that most American brides wear upon their wedding day, lace, was a surprisingly serious issue in the politics of Europe and the United States until this century. In the 1500’s, the British economy was almost drained by the purchase of foreign lace. The nations of Europe began requiring their ambassadors to observe and report upon the state of the lace making industry in large lace producing countries such as Belgium. The British solved their problems by creating a lace making machine in the 1600’s. The machines were considered such state secrets that they were illegal to export. Finally, however, several of the machines were dismantled and shipped to France by ship. The Frenchmen brought the fashion to America and the Americans followed the same route as their French comrades—they smuggled lace making machines from Britain. Unfortunately, these machines weighed too much and covered an area of fifty feet long and ten feet wide, making them difficult to transport all the way across the Atlantic. Finally, in 1909, the British allowed lace making machines to be freely and legally imported to the United States. It wasn’t until the conclusion of all this international intrigue that the custom of wearing lace veils at weddings was feasible for the typical American woman.