US' textiles & apparel imports up 16.03% in 2022

Within textiles, apparel constituted the bulk of the imports by the US in 2022, amounting to $99.932 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for $32.268 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 Nicaragua and Bangladesh shot up by 42.81 per cent and 36.38 per cent year-on-year, respectively. Imports from India and Indonesia too grew by 35.50 per cent and 35.29 per cent, respectively. Additionally, imports from Cambodia, which is one of the top 10 suppliers to the US, registered a growth of 28.46 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. 

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Cambodia soared by 48.55 per cent year-on-year. Imports from Vietnam and Italy too climbed by 31.43 per cent and 14.16 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, imports from some countries including China, India, Turkiye and Canada slipped. The imports from Turkiye dipped by 10.15 per cent. 

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $132.201 billion during the period under review, man-made fibre products accounted for $68.132 billion, while cotton products were worth $56.902 billion, followed by $4.395 billion worth of wool products, and $2.769 billion worth of products from silk and vegetable fibres. 

In 2020, the US textile and apparel imports had decreased sharply to $89.596 billion compared to imports of $111.033 billion in 2019, mainly on account of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But imports rebounded again in 2021 to reach $113.938 billion, thus surpassing the pre-pandemic level. 

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)