US textiles & apparel imports down 18% in Jan-April 2020

Apparel constituted the bulk of the textiles and garments imports made by the US during the initial four months of this year, and was valued at $21.263 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $7.509 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, exports from Cambodia showed double-digit growth of 16.92 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, imports from China, Mexico and Honduras registered a sharp decline of 46.44 per cent, 29.71 per cent and 29.13 per cent respectively compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Turkey shot up by 11.23 per cent. On the other hand, imports from China and Italy were down by 30.91 per cent and 20.21 per cent respectively to $2.399 billion and $163.807 million.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $28.773 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $12.716 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $14.527 billion, followed by $818.843 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres and $710.111 million of wool products.

In 2019, the US textile and apparel imports had increased by just 0.28 per cent year-on-year to $111.250 billion, with apparel alone accounting for $83.822 billion.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)