September Apparel and Textile Imports Down 4.5%

Apparel and textile imports to the U.S. declined 4.5 percent, or 8.4 billion square meters equivalent (SME) in September of this year versus 8.8 billion SME a year earlier, according to the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the U.S. Department of Commerce (OTEXA).

Those numbers were a marked difference from the first nine months of 2023 compared with the first nine months of 2022, where the decline was 16.5 percent, or 71.0 billion SME January-September this year, down from 85.0 billion SME for the same period last year.

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China showed a single-digit year-on-year increase in September. Its shipments to the U.S. were up by just 9.5 percent, according OTEXA, which reported 3.3 billion SME in September versus 3.1 billion SME a year earlier. August numbers showed a decline of 11.4 percent.

Vietnam‘s shipments to the U.S. were down 12.4 percent, or 5.41 million SME this September versus 6.2 million SME a year earlier.

Turkey showed an increase of 9.7 percent this September over last, or the difference between 4.8 million SME versus 4.4 SME last year.

This shows a positive development for Turkey, which continues to feel the effects of the devastating earthquakes that shook the southern and western regions of the country and parts of Syria killing 50,000 people and causing widespread damage to an area that is home to a sizable slice of the country’s garment industry.

According to OTEXA, imports to the U.S. from Israel rose 914 percent. It shipped 4.95 million SME in September versus about .5 million SME a year earlier.

Egypt’s exports to the U.S. slumped by 84 percent, or 1.1 million SME in September versus 6.7 million SME a year earlier.

Malaysia’s U.S. shipment rose 76.3 percent this September over last, compared to a year-on-year increase of 172.4 in July but a 0.9 percent year-over-year decline in August. This September, Malaysia shipped 6.1 million SME, versus 3.5 million SME September a year earlier.

Imports to the U.S. from Pakistan rose 1.1 percent. In September of this year, the country shipped 2.7 million SME versus just less than 2.7 million SME a year earlier.

Shipments to the U.S. from India were down by 11 percent. The South Asian nation shipped 7.1 million SME this September versus 8.0 million SME a year earlier.

The Czech Republic declined 46 percent, sending .9 million SME to the U.S. this September versus 1.7 million SME a year earlier. This is in contrast to a 40.5 percent year-on-year increase in August.

Imports to the U.S. from Mexico declined by 5.0 percent, or 3.8 million SME this September versus 4.0 million SME a year earlier.