Within textiles, apparel constituted the bulk of the imports by the US in January-October 2022, amounting to $87.093 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for $27.693 billion, according to the latest Major Shippers Report, released by the US department of commerce.
Segment-wise, among the top ten apparel suppliers to the US, imports from Bangladesh and Indonesia shot up by 48.57 per cent and 47.57 per cent year-on-year, respectively. Imports from India and Cambodia too grew by 45.04 per cent and 36.90 per cent, respectively. Additionally, imports from Pakistan, which is one of the top 10 suppliers to the US, registered a growth of 35.01 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.
US’ imports of textiles and apparel have continued to grow despite the impact of the economic challenges on discretionary expenditure globally. It rose by 22.76 per cent to $114.787 billion in the first ten months of 2022, compared to $93.505 billion in the same period of 2021. China continues to be the largest supplier of textiles and clothing to the US.
In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Cambodia soared by 60.72 per cent year-on-year. Imports from Vietnam and Italy too climbed by 34.24 per cent and 18.80 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, imports from Turkey dipped by 10.93 per cent.
Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $114.787 billion during the period under review, man-made fibre products accounted for $59.056 billion, while cotton products were worth $49.582 billion, followed by $3.740 billion worth of wool products, and $2.408 billion worth of products from silk and vegetable fibres.
In 2020, the US textile and apparel imports had decreased sharply to $89.596 billion compared to imports of $111.033 billion in 2019, mainly on account of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But imports rebounded again in 2021 to reach $113.938 billion, thus surpassing the pre-pandemic levels.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
