U.S. textile and apparel imports end 24 consecutive months of positive growth in August

Since the US International Trade Administration (ITA) revised the monthly data of US customs imports, there was a large data deviation in Jul’s US textile and apparel imports. The following is the revised figure excerpts from the latest data released by the US.

Revised part: In July 2022, the import volume of US textiles and apparel reached 12.1 billion US dollars, up by 5.7% year-on-year, and the import volume toppled 10 billion square meters, an increase of 12.1% year-on-year.

In August 2022 U.S. textile and apparel imports amounted to 9.14 billion square meters, down 0.6% year-on-year, ending 24 consecutive months of positive year-on-year growth since August 2020. US textile and apparel imports in August reached $13.17 billion, up 20% year-on-year.

Among them, the import volume of clothing was 3.1 billion square meters, an increase of 7.5% year-on-year, and the import volume of clothing achieved 10.4 billion US dollars, up 28.3% year-on-year, setting a new high in recent years.

The fact that US textile import volume reduced in a time when the clothing imports increased reflected the structure changes of product imports. However, the growth of import volume still outpaced import volume, thus the unit price of US textile and apparel imports is constantly increasing. 

The total amount of textile and garment imported from China in August was 3.57 billion square meters, down 12.1% year-on-year, and the amount was 3.81 billion US dollars, an increase of 13.8% year-on-year; Among them, the total amount of clothing imports from China was 1.26 billion square meters, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year, and the amount was 2.76 billion US dollars, an increase of 25.4% year-on-year.

Total U.S. garment imports slowed for the fourth consecutive month, yet still maintained a positive growth. In August, the growth rate of the imports from China was slightly lower than the total imports growth, which represented a decline for three consecutive months.