The total import volume of U.S. ready-made garments in May 2022 was 2.77 billion square meters, an increase of 21.6% compared with the same period last year. The main source of imports was imports from Cambodia with the largest growth.
According to import data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Textile Products (OTEXA), in May this year, the United States imported more garments from its top ten garment suppliers than in the same period last year. , a total of 9 countries.
U.S. imports of apparel products grew in May
?In May this year The quantity of Cambodian garment exports to the United States increased from 76 million square meters in May last year to 126 million square meters, an increase of 67.8%.
Indonesia exported 134 million square meters of garments to the United States, an increase of 46.1%, ranking second among the top ten garment suppliers in the United States.
? Followed by India, which grew by 29.1%, reaching 164 million square meters.
The quantity of ready-made garments imported from Bangladesh was 280 million square meters, an increase of 21.1%.
China is the largest supplier of garments to the United States, growing by 20.1% to 846 million square meters.
Pakistan continued to expand its exports to the United States, growing by 19.5% to 101 million square meters.
Vietnam is the second largest supplier of garments to the United States, with exports of 455 million square meters, an increase of 18.9%.
Among the top ten garment suppliers to the United States, the bottom three are Central American countries. Imports from Honduras increased by 8.3%, reaching 85 million square meters; followed by Mexico, imports increased by 1.4%, reaching 72 million square meters; imports from El Salvador fell by 0.07%, reaching 55 million square meters.
In terms of import value, U.S. garment imports in May reached US$8.51 billion, an increase of 38.5% compared with the same period last year. Among them, imports of ready-made garments from China increased by 37.4%, reaching US$1.59 billion; imports from Vietnam increased by 37%, reaching US$1.62 billion; imports from Cambodia increased by 70%, reaching US$370 million; imports from Bangladesh increased by 38.6%, reaching US$820 million. .
According to OTEXA data, Vietnam is the most expensive import source for the United States to purchase ready-made clothing in 2021, with an average unit price of US$3.28 per piece, a decrease of 0.9% from the previous year. The United States imported the lowest cost of ready-made clothing from China, with an average unit price of US$1.76 per piece, down 1.7%.
The total import volume of U.S. textiles and garments in May this year was 10.7 billion square meters, an increase of 42.7% over the same period last year; textile imports increased by 51.9%, reaching 7.91 billion square meters meter.
Cambodia in the spotlight
As early as March this year, Cambodia The government has launched a long-awaited five-year development plan – the “2022-2027 Cambodian Clothing, Footwear and Travel Products Industry (GFT) Development Strategy” to shape the country’s apparel industry by increasing productivity and reducing corporate tariffs. and the future of the footwear industry.
The new strategy involves five goals: strengthening human resource training, improving employment opportunities, improving working conditions, promoting domestic and foreign investment, especially high-value production, and promoting Diversification of export markets in the apparel, footwear and travel goods industry.
Cambodian Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth said at the launch ceremony: “This strategy is a complete solution to industry challenges, will seize new opportunities, and help economic development”.
Cambodia’s total garment export value in 2021 will reach US$11.38 billion, an increase of more than 15% compared with 2020. The industry remains one of the country’s largest sources of employment (Japan The media Nikkei Asia estimates that more than 750,000 people are employed in this industry among Cambodia’s 16.7 million population). Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the revenue growth in 2021 is attributed to the continued increase in the importance of the United States to Cambodia’s clothing, footwear, and especially travel supplies markets, and the accelerated growth of exports to the European Union.
What U.S. import data reveals
University of Delaware Fashion Dr. Sheng Lu, associate professor of the Department of Apparel, pointed out that American brands and retailers are continuing to diversify their procurement sources to seek new production capabilities, reduce supply chain risks, and reduce procurement costs.
He said that there are two trends worthy of attention. One is that U.S. fashion companies are making major efforts to “permanently” reduce sourcing from China, although China will remain one of the essential sources of sourcing in the medium term.
“In addition, with the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), in May 2022, the United States imported cotton clothing from China accounted for the total number of such products. The proportion of import value is only 11.8%, a record low (15.4% in 2021). However, U.S. companies are unlikely to completely suspend purchases of Chinese cotton clothing products, despite the high compliance risks of the new law.
He added that U.S. fashion companies still mainly transfer purchase orders from China to Asian competitor countries, especially countries with relatively large-scale production capabilities and stable economic and political situations. Such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
Is close-range procurement occurring?
Lu pointed out, “U.S. companies have also expressed interest in expanding nearby procurement, such as to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).”Procurement from member states.” However, in May this year, the United States’ imports of garments from CAFTA-DR member states accounted for only 10.2% of the value of US garment imports (as of May this year, the proportion was 9.7%), which is 10.6% in 2021. There has been almost no change. Therefore, more work needs to be done to expand the production capacity of the region, especially to improve product diversification and the availability of textile raw materials. [Note: CAFTA-DR members include the United States and Honduras, El Salvador, Dominica, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and other 6 Central American countries]
“In addition, the data in May 2022 reminds us that fashion companies will stay away from the reported A country with political instability. For example, Sri Lanka is facing losing purchase orders as the financial crisis worsens. In May this year, U.S. imports of garments from Sri Lanka accounted for only 2% of the value of U.S. garment imports, lower than 2.4% in the same period last year.”
May Key takeaways from garment import data
Lu believes that U.S. garment import growth is and will continue to slow as consumers grapple with high inflation and a deteriorating economic outlook. and cutting spending on clothing.
“Especially, with unprecedented inflation exceeding 8.6%, U.S. consumers must prioritize other necessities in their spending items rather than clothing. “It is worth noting that U.S. ready-to-wear sales have been stagnant since March 2022, leaving some retailers in the dilemma of having too much unsold inventory. In addition, the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) fell to 98.7 in June ( 1985=100), down 4.5 points from 103.2 in May, hitting the lowest level since February 2021 (95.2).
Quan added, “In order to increase inventory For holiday sales, June to October is usually the peak season for U.S. garment imports. Therefore, the next few months will be an important time to observe whether the current stagnation in import growth will reverse into recession.”
