The US imported $9.599 billion of textiles and clothing in January 2023, down 5.7% from the $10.179 billion in January 2022. China continued to be the top supplier to the US, with a share of 27.83%, followed by Vietnam with 14.45%. Yet, during the same period, there was a significant drop in imports from China of 25.28%.
According to the most recent Major Shippers Report published by the US department of commerce, the US imported $7.266 billion of textiles in January 2023, with $2.332 billion of the imports being non-apparel. Inbound shipments fell for both sectors. As non-clothing imports decreased by 12.12% from $2.653 billion the previous year, apparel imports fell by 3.44 % compared to the trade of $7.525 billion in January 2022.
Nicaraguan and Bangladeshi imports rose by 27.60% and 15.43%, respectively, year over year among the top 10 US clothing suppliers. Moreover, imports from India and Indonesia increased by 9.77% and 4.73%, respectively. Meanwhile, imports from the remaining six top-ten countries, including China and Cambodia, fell by 24.61 and 12.92 percent, respectively.
Among the top 10 suppliers in the non-apparel category, imports from Vietnam increased by 19.43% annually. A positive 12.89% and 3.63% rise was observed in imports from Mexico and Cambodia, respectively. Chinese, Indian, Turkish, and Canadian imports increased, while those from the other seven nations decreased. China-related imports declined by 26.58%.
Artificial fiber products accounted for $4.884 billion of the $9.599 billion in total US textile and apparel imports during the review period, cotton products brought in $4.121 billion, wool products brought in $279.972 million, and silk and vegetable fiber products brought in $314.184 billion.
The US imported $132.201 billion of textiles and clothing in 2022, up from $113.938 billion in 2021. This was an uptick following a dramatic dip in 2020 when the nation’s imports fell to $89.596 billion from $111.033 billion in 2019.
