Asia accounts for 80% of Chilean apparel imports

03 Mar '14

2 min read

Asian nations, including China, India and Vietnam, account for around 80 percent of all apparel imports made by Chile.

According to the data from Chile’s General Administration of Customs, in 2013, Chile imported US$ 2.322 billion worth of garments.

Of this, 78 percent of clothing was supplied by China. In terms of value, India stood second with exports valued at $ 43 million, while Vietnam took the third spot with exports of $35.1 million.

In 2013, Chile also imported clothing from other countries, including Bangladesh, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Italy, Spain and the US.

Last year, clothing sales witnessed an increase of 18 percent year-on-year in Chile, according to the statistics from the Chilean Chamber of Commerce.

In accordance with the recommendations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Latin American country is phasing out duty on imports from all Least Developed Countries (LDCs) over a three-year period.

Bangladesh, being a LDC, would benefit from this policy and all its garment exports to Chile would become duty-free from January 1, 2015. Hence, from next year onwards, the share of Bangladesh in Chile’s apparel imports is likely to increase.

In addition, Vietnam’s garment exports to Chile are also likely to increase as the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is scheduled to take effect from May 2, 2014, which will bring down tariff on Vietnamese clothing entering Chilean market to zero from the current rate of six percent.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

More Apparel/Garments News - Chile...