Apparel and textiles imports into the U.S. showed double-digit declines in May, according to the latest data from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA).
May’s apparel and textile imports into the U.S. totaled roughly 8.8 billion square meters equivalent (SME), for a 17.6 percent decline from the same month last year. Textile imports fell 13.9 percent year-on-year to 6.8 billion SME while shipments of apparel slumped 28.1 percent year-on-year to 1.99 billion SME, OTEXA reported.
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Year-to-date through May, U.S. ports of entry handled textiles and apparel imports totaling 36.4 billion SME, a 22.4 percent year-on-year decline. Textiles held up better than apparel, however. Year-to-date textile imports totaled 26.8 billion SME for a 19.1 percent decline versus the prior-year five-month period while apparel shipments tumbled 30.5 percent to roughly 9.6 billion SME, according to OTEXA data published Thursday.
Among the U.S.’ top 10 trading partners, the biggest losers were the giants of Asian textile and garment production. India declined 36.3 percent, Bangladesh fell 34.6 percent; Pakistan tumbled 33.3 percent and Vietnam slumped 33.1 percent.
China lost only 15.4 percent, down from 2.88 billion SME to 2.43 billion this year from May one year ago. Notable is that China still does more than three times the trade with the U.S, than the next contender, India.
Losses among other Asian nations might be a result of supply chain interruptions, with retailers moving into nearshoring to avoid a repeat of the delays and cost of what occurred during the pandemic. Malaysia, however, lost only 14.1 percent, down to 553.8 million SME from 631.6 million SME, less than half the losses of the other four major players.
Turkey’s shipments to the U.S. fell 57.7 percent compared with a year ago. One reason might be the disastrous earthquakes that struck the country and parts of Syria in February, although retailers and manufacturers were urged to not cancel orders and factory managers were encouraged to keep factories up and running where possible. The reelection in May of president Recip Tayyib Erdogan is also problematic. The currency is in freefall, while inflation stands at 45 percent, still high although down from 85.5 percent last year.
On the winning side, the Czech Republic shipped 265.2 percent more apparel products into the U.S., up to 408.4 million SME this year compared with 111.8 million SME a year ago.
Mexico was up some 210.5 percent, to 811.3 million SME from 261.3 last year, most likely a result of nearshoring. Retailers are eager to pull back from China, particularly after the supply chain problems of the pandemic. Goods can come from Mexico by truck, and increasingly by electric truck, with less wear on the environment.
