Textiles & apparel exports under AGOA jump 6% in Q1 2013

26 Jul '13

2 min read

The exports of textiles and apparel from African countries to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) grew six percent year-on-year during the first three months of the current year, according to the data compiled by the Gaborone, Botswana- based USAID South Africa Trade Hub, on the basis of official statistics from the US Department of Commerce.

According to the report, the total textiles and garments exported under AGOA was US$ 210.889 million in January-March 2013, compared to exports of US$ 197.134 million made during the corresponding period of 2012.

Among the 17 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries that supplied textiles and clothing to the US under AGOA in 2012, only 12 nations exported textiles and garments during the first quarter of 2013.

The land-locked country of Lesotho continues to top the charts, with US$ 74.892 million worth of textile and apparel exports under AGOA to the US in the first three months of the current year, compared to exports of US$ 72.294 million made during the same period last year.

Kenya, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana were the countries that saw an increase in their exports of textiles and clothing under AGOA during the period under review, compared to the first quarter of last year.

However, exports of textiles and apparel from Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda and Namibia declined during January-March 2013, compared to the corresponding period of previous year.

The US is the world’s largest textile and apparel market and the AGOA offers SSA countries a tremendous opportunity to access the lucrative US market. However, the utilization of AGOA provisions remains low.

According to AGOA expert Paul Ryberg, the 2012-2013 AGOA tariff rate quota (TRQ) on apparel was set at 1.735 billion square meter equivalents (sme), of which 50% is reserved for apparel made in least developed countries from third country fabrics, and the remainder for apparel made from regional fabric.

The 2012-2013 TRQ opened on October 1, 2012, and as of June 10, 2013, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that a total of 140,288,104 sme of apparel had entered duty-free under the TRQ, only 8.08% of the total TRQ, the report said.

In 2012, SSA countries exported textiles and garments worth US$ 815.310 million under AGOA.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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