The import of textiles and apparel by United States declined 2.84 per cent in the first four months of 2017 to $32.015 billion, compared to imports valued at $32.952 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Apparel constituted the bulk of these imports valued at $24.560 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for $7.454 billion.

China continued to be the largest supplier of textiles and clothing items to the US market. The US imports from China were valued at $10.471 billion, accounting for 36.49 per cent share of all textile and garment imports made by the US during January-April 2017, according to the Major Shippers Report (April 2017 data), released by the US department of commerce.

Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia were the next four top suppliers of textiles and garments to the US, with goods valued at $3.762 billion, $2.622 billion, $1.825 billion and $1.644 billion, respectively, during the four-month period, the report showed.

Segment-wise, among the top ten apparel suppliers to the US, only Vietnam, Mexico and Honduras were able to increase their exports by 8.16 per cent, 1.05 per cent, and 0.38 per cent year-on-year, respectively. On the other hand, imports from Bangladesh declined by 6.30 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, Mexico, Turkey and India registered a positive growth of 6.66 per cent, 6.33 per cent and 5.71 per cent year-on-year, respectively. While imports from Vietnam, China, Italy and Canada dropped by 33.44 per cent, 11.53 per cent, 10.57 per cent and 10.32 per cent to $140.345 million, $3.033 billion, $162.135 million and $225.107 million, respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $32.015 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $14.650 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $15.687 billion, followed by $878.231 million of wool products and $799.087 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2016, the US textile and apparel imports had declined by 6.44 per cent year-on-year to $104.722 billion, with apparel alone accounting for $80.713 billion. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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