In the first five months of 2024, apparel imports, which constitute the bulk of US textile imports, fell by 6.00 per cent to $29.620 billion from $31.510 billion in the same months in 2023. Non-apparel imports saw a 3.69 per cent rise to $11.261 billion, up from $10.860 billion previously, as reported by the US Department of Commerce’s Major Shippers Report.

The apparel imports from Cambodia gained by 7.75 per cent over shipments in the same period of the last year. It was the only country, from which apparel imports remained positive, among the top 10 suppliers. The significant declines were from Bangladesh and Mexico falling by 12.31 per cent and 11.49 per cent, respectively. Imports also fell from Indonesia (10.49 per cent), China (5.81 per cent), and India (2.06 per cent).

In the non-apparel sector, imports gained by 7.60 per cent from China and 10.62 per cent from Turkiye, 14.75 per cent from Vietnam, 7.88 per cent from India, and 2.62 per cent from Cambodia. On the other hands, Mexican shipments to the US showed a year-on-year decrease of 6.12 per cent. Imports also declined from Italy, Pakistan, and South Korea.

During the period under review, total US imports of textiles and apparel amounted to $40.881 billion. Of this, man-made fibre products dominated with $20.886 billion, followed by cotton products at $17.095 billion, wool products at $1,215.345 million, and silk and vegetable fibre products at $1,683.866 million.

In 2023, the US imported textiles worth $104.959 billion, which was 20.51 per cent lower than the imports in 2022. Its apparel imports fell by 22.05 per cent to $77.840 billion, while non-apparel imports saw a 15.73 per cent decline to $27.119 billion.

In 2022, US imports of textiles and apparel had risen reaching $132.201 billion, up from $113.938 billion in 2021. This increase followed a sharp decline in 2020 when the country’s inbound shipments dropped to $89.596 billion, compared with imports of $111.033 billion in 2019.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)