US’ imports of textiles and apparel have continued to grow at a high rate despite the impact of the economic challenges on discretionary expenditure globally. It rose by 26.36 per cent to $103.950 billion in the first nine months of 2022, compared to $82,268 billion in the same period of 2021. With 26.20 per cent share, China continues to be the largest supplier of textiles and clothing to the US, followed by Vietnam with 14.34 per cent. Within textiles, apparel constituted the bulk of the imports by the US in January-September 2022, amounting to $78.856 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for $25.094 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 Indonesia and India shot up by 54.66 per cent and 53.39 per cent year-on-year, respectively. Imports from Bangladesh and Cambodia too grew by 50.98 per cent and 46.58 per cent, respectively. Additionally, imports from Pakistan, which is among the top 10 suppliers to the US, registered a growth of 40.11 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 65.29 per cent year-on-year. Imports from Vietnam and Italy too climbed by 29.34 per cent and 20.65 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, imports from Turkey dipped by 11.03 per cent. Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $91.733 billion during the period under review, man-made fibre products accounted for $53.302 billion, while cotton products were worth $45.115 billion, followed by $3.288 billion worth of wool products, and $2.244 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 COVID-19 pandemic induced disruption. But imports rebounded again in 2021 to reach $113.938 billion, thus surpassing the pre-pandemic levels.