, U.S. textile and apparel imports continue to decline

Affected by the economic recession, U.S. textile and clothing imports continued to decline in July and August 2008, and the import of textiles and clothing from China dropped significantly. In August 2008, U.S. textile and apparel imports amounted to US$8.9 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.4%, the second largest decline in the past six years. From January to August 2008, the import value of textiles and clothing dropped by 3.7% year-on-year, and the import volume dropped by 5.2% year-on-year. It is expected that the decline will be even greater throughout the year.
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Affected by this, China, which accounts for 40% of the total imports of U.S. textiles and clothing, is facing the risk of gradually losing its market share. From January to August 2008, the United States imported 13.5 billion square meters of Chinese textiles and clothing, a year-on-year decrease of 3.1%. Among them, clothing import volume was 4.8 billion square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 6.4%, of which cotton clothing import volume was less than 24 billion square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 7.1%. China currently accounts for 32.5% of total U.S. apparel imports, a year-on-year decrease of 6.4%, and this proportion is expected to continue to decline.