US textiles & apparel imports grow 4.32% in Q1 2021

Apparel constituted the bulk of the textiles and garments imports made by the US during the initial three months of this year, and were valued at $17.410 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $7.235 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 Pakistan and China showed growth of 25.90 per cent and 12.69 per cent year-on-year respectively. On the other hand, imports from Indonesia, Jordan and India registered a sharp decline of 22.04 per cent, 20.95 per cent and 14.43 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, China and India shot up by 48.85 per cent, 42.42 per cent and 26.40 per cent, respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $24.645 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $11 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $12.607 billion, followed by $492.952 million of wool products and $544.663 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2020, the US textile and apparel imports had decreased sharply, mainly on account of the disruption caused due to COVID-19 pandemic, to $89.602 billion compared to imports of $111.033 billion in 2019.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)