US textile and apparel imports rose in July

The latest data showed that US textile and apparel imports reached 8.92 billion square meters in Jul, up by 44.8% year-on-year, 4.5% month-on-month and 33.4% compared with the same period in 2019 respectively. And the volume from China reached 3.52 billion square meters in Jul, up by 12.6% year-on-year but down 3.4% month-on-month respectively. The imports rose by 2.5% compared with that in same period of 2019, indicating that the growth of the volume from China was lower than the total imports.

US textile and apparel imports value rose in July, compared with both a year and a month earlier but declined double digit compared to that in 2019 two years ago, especially the value from China dropped sharply.

US apparel imports value and volume moved up in Jul, compared with both a year and a month earlier but declined compared to that in 2019, so did that from China, indicating that the demand recovery of US apparel imports was not as good as that of US textile imports, especially in value, which was related to unit price.

In July 2021, the average unit price of US apparel imports went up somewhat but was still at a relative low compared with recent years. The average unit price of US apparel imports from China was lower than the total and their price spread has expanded in recent years, especially from last year to this year.

China stays the largest supplier for the US market in July 2021, accounting for 39.5% of total US apparel imports in volume and 29% in value, followed by ASEAN and India. But China's market share in US textile and apparel imports slipped somewhat this year.

In conclusion, the growth of US textile and apparel imports in July was still strong, with the average unit price rising from the previous month, but still at a relatively low level. From the perspective of origin, China's market share declined this year, with imports from China declining in July compared with the previous month. While market share of India and ASEAN inched up, and other markets increased considerably. It can be seen that new markets have joined the sources of US textile and apparel imports.