The US, world’s largest apparel importer, has reported a surge in its volume-wise apparel imports. During the first half of the current year, the country noted a rise of 2.91 per cent on the Y-o-Y basis to settle at 12,799.33 million SME apparel imports.
On the other side, the US witnessed fall in values, which is a positive sign for its apparel imports. In first six months of 2017, the country spent US $ 37,247.625 million on apparel imports, noting a drop of 1.86 per cent against the same period last year.
The Unit Value Realisation (UVR) too fell significantly by 3.32 per cent. The decline in UVR can be attributed to falling apparel unit prices in China and Bangladesh markets.
During the review period, apparels made from cotton, wool, and silk and veg decreased in quantity-wise imports by 2.62 per cent, 9.87 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, apparels made from Man Made Fibres (MMF) increased by 5.62 per cent on the yearly note.
The increase in imports reflects minimal or no impact of the proposed BAT (Border Adjustment Tax), which has continuously been seen as a threat to the country’s import.
Deteriorating cotton imports is still a major issue for the US; it is the largest importer of cotton in the world.
The second half of the year is still uncertain and things will be clearer once Trump administration shows solidarity in its trade policy decisions.
