Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US market have not recovered so far this year. Entrepreneurs of the country have exported $4.57 billion worth of apparel to the USA in seven months from last January to July. This export is 19.82 percent less than the same period last year.
US is the single largest market for Bangladesh’s manufactured garments. This market is the destination of one-fifth of the garments exported from Bangladesh. Last year, the country exported $9.73 billion worth of ready-made garments. Currently, US traders import the third largest amount of clothing from Bangladesh.
However, overall US apparel imports are down 22 percent compared to the same period last year. In the first seven months of this year, US merchants imported a total of $45.76 billion worth of clothing from various countries. These data were obtained from the latest statistics of the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) of the US Department of Commerce.
Among the top 5 apparel exporters to the US, the apparel exports of other countries have declined more than Bangladesh. China is the largest apparel exporter in this market. Their exports fell by 29 percent in the first seven months of this year. Last January-July, Chinese entrepreneurs exported $9.12 billion worth of clothing to the United States. At this time last year, their export amount was $12.81 billion.
Vietnam is the second largest apparel exporter to the US market. In the first seven months of this year, the country exported $8.21 billion worth of clothing to the United States. During the same period of last year, their export amount was $10.91 billion. As such, Vietnam’s exports have decreased by 25 percent this time.
According to OTEXA data, the fourth apparel exporters in this market, India exported $2.92 billion worth of garments to the US market in the first seven months of this year. The country’s exports fell by 21 percent. During the same period last year, they exported garments worth $3.69 billion.
Exports of fifth-ranked Indonesia fell by 27 percent. The country exported $2.47 billion worth of ready-made garments to the US market in the first seven months of this year which was $3.38 billion during the same period last year.
Basically, inflation in the United States rose above 9 percent in July 2022, five months after the Russia-Ukraine war began in late February, the highest in the country in 40 years, although inflation in the country eased to 3.2 percent in July this year.
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have been saying for several months that the purchasing power of the common people in the United States has decreased due to high inflation. Because of that, they have reduced the purchase of products other than daily products. It has also reduced the purchase order of clothes. However, the country’s exporters are indicating that orders for ready-made garments have started to increase over the past two months.
