US textiles & apparel imports up 29.29% in Jan-July 2021

Apparel constituted the bulk of textiles and garments imports made by the US during the initial seven months of this year, and were valued at $42.366 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $18.026 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 El Salvador, Honduras and Pakistan shot up by 75.19 per cent, 74.63 per cent and 69.14 per cent year-on-year respectively. On the other hand, imports from Indonesia and Cambodia registered only a single-digit increase of 2.94 and 7.88 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from India, Turkey, Italy and Pakistan soared by 75.30 per cent, 70.15 per cent, 56.31 per cent and 42.55 per cent, respectively. The sharp rise in numbers is due to the base effect, as imports were disrupted last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $60.393 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $26.627 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $31.053 billion, followed by $1.434 billion of wool products, and $1.277 billion of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

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

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)