US textile & apparel imports fall 3.57% in H1 2016

The US imported $17.545 billion worth of textiles and garments from China, which accounted for 38.10 per cent share of all textile and garment imports made by the US in January-June 2016, the data showed.

Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia were the next four top suppliers of textiles and garments to the US, with goods valued at $5.456 billion, $3.792 billion, $2.846 billion and $2.515 billion, respectively, during the six-month period.

Segment-wise, the US apparel imports during January-June 2016 were valued at $37.954 billion, whereas non-apparel imports accounted for $12.529 billion.

Among the top ten apparel suppliers to the US, exports from El Salvador increased at 4.53 per cent year-on-year, while those from Vietnam and Bangladesh rose at 3.24 per cent, 1.52 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Cambodia, Mexico and China saw their exports decline by 14.18 per cent, 7.22 per cent and 5.20 per cent, respectively, over the corresponding period of 2015.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, the import from Turkey shot up by 8.54 per cent year-on-year to $783.140 million. While imports from Taiwan, China and Vietnam dropped by 11.42 per cent, 10/05 per cent and 7.94 per cent to $219.558 million, $12.531 billion and $349.269 million, respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $52.350 billion during January-June 2016, cotton products were worth $22.817 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $24.845 billion, followed by $1.635 billion of wool products and $1.185 billion of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2015, the US textile and apparel imports increased by 4.15 per cent year-on-year to $111.928 billion, with apparel alone accounting for $85.164 billion. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India