US textiles & apparel imports down 25.8% in Jan-May 2020

Apparel constituted the bulk of the textiles and garments imports made by the US during the initial five months of this year, and were valued at $23.921 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $8.973 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 Cambodia showed growth of 6.46 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, imports from China, Mexico and Honduras registered a sharp decline of 49.23 per cent, 37.46 per cent and 42.57 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 4.76 per cent. On the other hand, imports from China and Italy were down by 33.22 per cent and 27.20 per cent respectively to $3.052 billion and $187.091 million.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $32.895 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $14.139 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $17.040 billion, followed by $936.294 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres and $779.284 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)