WASHINGTON — Textile and apparel imports to the U.S. posted double-digit increases in February for most major suppliers, showing signs the industry could be on the road to recovery, the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel said Tuesday.
Shipments of textiles and apparel to the U.S. rose 19.3 percent to 3.9 billion square meter equivalents in February compared with a year earlier, when import volumes were in the midst of a prolonged decline driven by the global recession. OTEXA said significant increases in year-to-year comparisons are to be expected as textile and apparel imports get back on track.
Apparel imports to the U.S. were up 15.6 percent to 1.8 billion SME and textile imports increased 22.6 percent to 2.1 billion SME.
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Combined shipments of textiles and apparel from China spiked 36.7 percent to 1.7 billion SME. The volume of apparel from China increased 38.3 percent to 670 million SME, while the textile shipments increased 35.6 percent to 996 million SME.
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Textile and apparel imports from Vietnam jumped 30.7 percent to 215 million SME. Vietnam’s apparel imports increased 22.6 percent to 149 million SME, while shipments of textiles were up 53.8 percent to 66 million SME.
Industry shipments from Mexico increased 22.6 percent to 193 million SME, driven mostly by growth in nonapparel fabric categories, OTEXA said. Imports from Indonesia gained 19.7 percent to 145 million SME, while shipments from India increased 18.8 percent to 250 million SME.
Honduras saw combined imports rise 12.6 percent to 98 million SME. Imports from Pakistan were up 7.5 percent to 229 million SME, while shipments from Bangladesh increased 7.1 percent to 149 million SME.
South Korea was the only top supplier to post a decline in imports for February, with shipments falling 5.6 percent to 107 million SME.
The top five apparel suppliers to the U.S. in February were China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Honduras. China was also the top textile supplier, followed by Pakistan, India, Mexico and South Korea. The overall trade deficit increased to $39.7 billion in February from $37 billion in January, according to the Commerce Department.
“As U.S. producers and retailers seek to restock inventories, they will pull in more imports,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight. “This is a natural part of the recovery process.”
The trade gap in February was slightly exaggerated by unusually low exports of airplanes and NBC’s payments for coverage of the Olympics, Gault noted.
“Trade volumes are increasing in response to economic growth here and abroad,” said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.