US textile & apparel imports fall 3.29% in Jan-April

The US imported $11.133 billion worth of textiles and garments from China, which accounted for 33.78 per cent share of all textile and garment imports made by the US in January-April 2016, the data showed.

Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia were the next four top suppliers of textiles and garments to the US, with goods valued at $3.559 billion, $2.602 billion, $1.934 billion and $1.709 billion, respectively, during the four-month period.

Segment-wise, the US apparel imports during the first quarter of 2016 were valued at $24.988 billion, whereas non-apparel imports accounted for $7.963 billion.

Among the top ten apparel suppliers to the US, exports from El Salvador increased at 4.92 per cent year-on-year, while those from Vietnam, Bangladesh and India rose at 3.43 per cent, 1.68 per cent and 1.37 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Cambodia, Mexico and Honduras saw their exports decline by 12.97 per cent, 7.74 per cent and 7.21 per cent, respectively, over the corresponding period of 2015.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, the import from Turkey shot up by 11.39 per cent year-on-year to $274.209 million. While imports from Taiwan, China and Pakistan dropped by 13.21 per cent, 9.32 per cent and 8.73 per cent to $138.253 million, $3.428 billion and $479.334 million, respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $32.952 billion during January-April 2016, cotton products were worth $15.058 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $16.030 billion, followed by $963.059 million of wool products and $900.308 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2015, the US textile and apparel imports increased by 4.15 per cent year-on-year to $111.928 billion, with apparel alone accounting for $85.164 billion. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India