Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US, the country’s single largest export destination, grew by 14.60 percent year-on-year to US$6.133 billion, thanks to the political stability and safety drive that help the country to regain buyers’ confidence. The country fetched $6.876 billion by exporting merchandise to the US market in the just concluded fiscal (2018-19). Of the amount, the readymade garment (RMG) constitutes about 90 per cent of the export earnings to the US. The amount was $5.352 in the previous fiscal year (FY18). The widening trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies –the US and China – also helps Bangladesh to receive more RMG orders from western buyers, said Mohiuddin Rubel, Director of BGMEA and Denim Expert Ltd. who is optimistic about more orders in coming days. Industry insiders and trade analysts also attributed the positive growth in export earnings, among others, to the ongoing trade war between the US and China, withdrawal of USA from the TPP and improvement in safety standards at apparel factories. Safety inspection by Alliance, a platform of North American buyers to improve workplace safety made significant progress throughout 2018, bringing satisfaction among western buyers that resulted in more work orders. The tariff war between the US and China expedited the growth as a section of buyers has already changed their sourcing destination and prefers to Bangladesh, said the RMG entrepreneurs expecting more work orders in coming days as the tension might linger more. Initially, apparel was not in the list of the items subjected to US President Donald Trump’s retaliatory duty plan. Last year, the US imposed three rounds of tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. But in May last the US raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products to 25 percent from 10 percent that also include garment items. Such announcement has encouraged US retailers to consider Bangladesh for outsourcing their apparels,” said Mohammad Hatem, owner of MB Knit Fashion Ltd, which mainly exports basic knitwear products to the US market. In addition, the United States withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal also helped Bangladesh to retain its position in the US market as the proposed deal offered duty free access of RMG products from Vietnam and Malaysia. According to sources, garment export to the US market has been showing an upward trend over the last few months because of the ongoing trade tariff war and enhanced workplace safety. The North American clothing retailers and brands have been placing more work orders after gaining confidence from the near complete factory safety inspection and remediation run by the Accord and Alliance, said Mohammad Hatem, also a former senior vice president of BKMEA. “We are maintaining a very high standard in factory compliance issues, but not getting the real prices,” said Hatem who thinks that the country should focus more on value added, high-end apparel items rather than basic, traditional products to make the business sustainable. Side by side, he said, the entrepreneurs should create more pressure on western buyers to increase the prices of apparels as the sector is progressing fast in terms of remediation and the country has good number green factories. Despite the limitations and suspension of GSP facilities, Bangladesh RMG exports in US market is still continuing to rise and shows an upward trend. Even the OTEXA data shows an upward trend. According to the US Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA) report, US apparel imports from China for 2018 increased a meager 1.34 percent in value to $27.37 billion compared to 2017, outpaced by Asian neighbors Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and Cambodia. Imports from Vietnam rose 5.78 percent year-to-year to $12.22 billion, while shipments from Bangladesh increased by 6.65 percent to $5.5 billion, imports from India were up 3.42 percent to $3.81 billion and Cambodia’s shipments jumped 12.19 percent for the year to $2.42 billion, OTEXA data showed. Even during the first five months of this year (2019) Bangladesh apparel export worth about $2.55 billion to US shows a 15.48 percent growth. China exported apparels worth about $9.06 billion in the first five months to the USA with 37 percent growth. India exported $1.95 billion apparels registering a growth of 10.83 while Vietnam exported 5.30 billion apparels showing a growth of 12.01 per cent.
