U.S. textile and apparel imports from China maintain growth (China)

China’s textile and apparel exports the United States totaled US $ 17.31 billion in the first half of this year, an increase of 6.9 percent year on year. In comparison with the last five years, export growth was lower than 2007,2010 and 2011, but higher than2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis. Of which, textile exports registered US $4.97 billion, an increase of 12.1 percent year on year, apparel exports achieved US $12.34 billion, an increase of 4.9 percent year on year. Export price fell across the board. Export unit prices of yarn, fabric, knitwear, woven garments decreased by 7 percent, 8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

According to the statistics of U.S. Textile and Apparel Office, global imports of textiles and clothing by the United States were 21.33 billion square meters from January to May this year, down 0.5 percent year on year, import value was US $38.71 billion, a slight increase of 1.7 percent. Imports from China maintained growth, import volume increased 3.6 percent, import value rose 3.5 percent. At the same period, U.S imports from other major countries, like Vietnam, Cambodia, El Salvador, also achieve growth, of which, import growth of Vietnam and El Salvador was higher than China.

Since 2012, Chinese products have always maintained an upward trend in the U.S. market, but due to the impact from Southeast Asian countries, the U.S. market share of Chinese products has declined further. From January to May, the proportion of imports from China in the U.S market was 44.7 percent in volume and 36.5 percent in value, down 2.2 percentage points and 3.6 percentage points，respectively, from 2011.