Vietnamese apparel’s market share in the U.S. continues to rise

According to data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce last week, U.S. clothing imports from Vietnam accounted for an increasing share of the market in 2014, growing from 10% in the first nine months of 2013 to 11.3% in 2014. ​
In September this year, the United States’ apparel imports from Vietnam totaled a record $914 million, an increase of 22.7% compared with the same period last year. In contrast, Chinese clothing’s share of the U.S. market has declined. ​
We learned from a recent report by the Asian media “intellasia”: As the cost of each small and medium-sized enterprise increased by 2.2%, Vietnam’s clothing exports to the United States have become more expensive. These garment categories are primarily women’s knitted tops, women’s and men’s cotton trousers, women’s man-made fiber knitted tops and skirts, and cotton underwear. ​
Judging from the total clothing import data in the United States, the share of Chinese clothing has dropped from 37.1% to 36.2%, and the Chinese clothing industry is suffering huge losses. ​
China’s main product categories include: women’s cotton knitted tops, women’s and men’s cotton trousers, women’s man-made fiber knitted tops and skirts, man-made fiber hosiery products, and man-made fiber underwear.
In terms of import value and quantity, Bangladesh is ahead of Indonesia and ranks third among the countries that import clothing to the United States. Yet so far this year, both countries have lost market share. ​
So far this year, India has gained a smaller share of the U.S. imported apparel market. Its main clothing categories include: men’s and women’s knitted and man-made fiber tops. ​
Compared with the total amount of US$62 billion in the same period last year, the total value of clothing imports in the United States increased by 2.8% from January to September 2014. From the perspective of total import volume, it increased by 3.1%, driving the average cost of each small and medium-sized enterprise to decrease by 0.2%.