US textiles & apparel imports up 4.92% in Jan-March 2019

Apparel constituted the bulk of the textiles and garments imports made by the US during the initial three months of this year, and was valued at $20.296 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $6.489 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 Bangladesh showed double-digit growth of 16.12 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, imports from Mexico registered a decline of 5.20 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan and Turkey shot up by 25.92 per cent, 24.02 per cent, 9.07 per cent, and 7.90 per cent year-on-year to $201.607 million, $197.876 million, $403.600 million, and $283.739 million respectively. On the other hand, imports from Canada were down by 16.31 per cent to $153.097 million. 

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $26.786 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $12.004 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $13.396 billion, followed by $700.517 million of wool products and $685.198 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2018, the US textile and apparel imports had increased by 4.9 per cent year-on-year to $111.039 billion, with apparel alone accounting for $82.864 billion. (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India