The US market imported more textiles and apparel saw substantial growth in May compared with the previous month still imports were lower than a year earlier, as per data released by the Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel.
Textile and apparel imports totaled 8.8 billion square meter equivalents in May, registering a gain of 11.4 percent from April but down 17.6 percent in May ‘22. Textile imports totaled 6.81 billion SMEs, up 11.3 percent for the month but down 13.9 percent from the previous year, while apparel imports of 1.99 billion SMEs rose 12.4 percent from April but were down 28.1 percent from a year before.
Imports of textiles and apparel were 36.4 billion SME for the year to date in May, down 22.4 percent from a year earlier. Textile imports were 26.8 billion SME, down 19.1 percent, while apparel imports fell 30.5 percent to 9.59 billion SME.
For the year ending in May, total imports were down 12.5 percent to 95.3 million SMEs. Textile imports lost 10.7 percent to 68.4 billion SMEs while apparel imports fell 16.5 percent to 26.9 billion SMEs.
China was the largest textile and apparel exporter to the US with exports of 2.44 million Square Meter Equivalent (SME), followed by Mexico with 811.3 million SMEs, India with 759 million SMEs, Egypt with 711.5 SMEs, Malaysia with 631.6 million SME, Vietnam 453 million SME, Turkey 341.9 million SME, Pakistan 248.4 million SME and Bangladesh 219.4 million SME. Traditional US suppliers China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Bangladesh posted a double-digit year-on-year decline in exports while emerging apparel economies like Mexico, Egypt, Malaysia, and Turkey posted double-digit gains.
Tradition textile and apparel exporters losing the US market
