The US has continued solidarity in its apparel imports as it reported a 1.37 per cent surge in volume terms during January to July 2017 period.
The country imported 15,348.56 million SME of apparels in the said period as against 15,140.54 million in the prior year period.
During the review period, apparel imports from China increased by 2.67 per cent, Vietnam by 11.02 per cent and India by 2.40 per cent. However, imports from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Honduras dropped by 0.77 per cent, 1.89 per cent and 0.90 per cent, respectively.
China has been slashing the unit prices to stay competitive in the US and thereby convincing buyers to purchase more quantities. In the review period, China’s unit value realization was US $ 2.36 which was well short of US $ 2.54 in the prior year period.
The shift of US’ buyers to China has directly impacted Bangladesh’ apparel exports as the second largest apparel exporter to the country was significantly down during the period. The country descended 5.88 per cent in value terms of apparel exports to the US to settle at US $ 3,041.693 million versus US $ 3,231.73 million in 2016.
Moreover, it has been observed that Indian apparel manufacturers are becoming compliant to the American buyers’ norms in terms of quality of products, labour conditions, and other legal aspects.
The better conditions in India has increased the cost of production for manufacturers. However, the positive thing is that the US buyers are ready to pay higher prices for the garments they import from India.
The US’ intent was quite visible in the data released by OTEXA which indicated that amidst the price war between China and Bangladesh, India is steadily growing in its apparel imports to the US.
India exported 674.98 million SME apparels to the USA worth US $ 2327.86 million during January to July 2017 period.
Despite a surge in quantity of imports, the US did not see a rise in dollar spending. The country spent US $ 44,976.24 million (down 1.90 per cent) in the first seven months of the current year as against US $ 45,849.03 million in the corresponding period of 2016.