Apparel sector fighting losing battle

14 Jul '10

1 min read

Mexico is amongst the top 10 exporters of textiles and apparel to the US, but is fighting a losing battle in its domestic markets. Illegally imported clothing, now accounts for nearly 60 percent of garments sold in the local markets, up from 50 percent, three years ago.

The Mexican apparel export sector was badly hit by the economic downturn of 2008, since a majority of its shipments are destined for the United States, which was the epicenter of the economic crisis and also was the worst affected.

But experts are optimistic about the current year. According to them, 12,000 news jobs have been created in May 2010, against job losses totaling to around 50,000 in the period between 2008 and 2009.

The apparel goods that are imported in to Mexico are undervalued to a large extent, to save on import duties, due to which they are also sold at a very competitive price, vis-à-vis the domestically produced goods.

The textile and garment sector is lobbying hard with the government to crackdown on these illegal imports, as at the same time, the government too is losing heavy revenues in the form of duties, due to under-valuing of imports.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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