The US import of PPE continues increasing despite the signs of pandemic being not so strong.
According to OTEXA, the country imported US $ 8.63 billion worth of PPE and related products during Jan.-Apr. ’21, noting 382.12 per cent surge on Y-o-Y basis.
During the period, nonwoven disposable apparels contributed US $ 792.25 million under HS Code 6210105000 in which two types of products were imported – isolation gowns and disposable apparels. The share of nonwoven disposable apparels in total PPE import value of USA was 9.10 per cent.
Face mask imports – under 5 HS Codes 6307909845, 6307909850, 6307909870, 6307909875, 6307909891 – still remained one of the most sought PPE products by the US buyers, the value of which stood at US $ 1.70 billion in Jan.-Apr. ’21 period.
It’s worth noting here that face masks constituted 17.70 per cent of the total import value of PPE by USA.
Other major PPE import was done for plastic/rubber gloves (a combination of 7 HS Codes – 3926201010, 3926201020, 4015110110, 4015110150, 4015190510, 4015190550, 4015191010) as it valued US $ 5.85 billion in Jan.-Apr. ’21, which is a total of 67.70 per cent of overall PPE import value.
