While many industries seem to be finding some level of recovery from Covid losses, U.S. textile and apparel imports have not come close to pre-pandemic figures. U.S. imports in the sector are down by double digits again across the board comparing April of this year to the same month last year.
While not as dire as the nadir in July 2020, when shipments recorded for the month of May that year were down by 60 percent compared to May of the previous year, the drop this year for the month of April compared to April a year ago remains notable at 19.85 percent, according to the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA), for a total of $119.1 billion.
Exports to the U.S. by most of the top 10 suppliers were down. Turkey led the pack with a decline of 69.5 percent in units comparing April 2023 with April 2022, to $789.3 million, a number perhaps influenced by the country’s political turmoil and the recent earthquakes there. It has steep inflation, a weakening currency, fluctuating unemployment and an increase in protection and populist measures like import tariffs that exert a downward push on trade with the U.S. Turkey could also be suffering backlash from its protracted blocking of Sweden into NATO, which the Scandinavian nation applied for after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland applied at the same time as its neighbor and was admitted with no objection.
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Imports to the U.S. from China were down by 32.17 percent, to $7 billion, comparing April 2023 with April 2022, and in units, million square meter equivalents (MSME), it was down 22.6 percent. Still a double-digit decrease, this could reflect the impact of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) which bars the entry of goods made in Xinjiang province because of Beijing’s state-sponsored oppression against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities there. The decline continued the first four months of this year, falling 21.1 percent over the first four months of last year.
In bright spots, there were two among the top 10 nations exporting textiles and apparel to the U.S. that could be harbingers of more positive results to come. Egypt, for one, showed an increase in MSME of 1,210.8 percent, comparing April 2022 to April 2023, yet it was down 29.94 percent in dollars in the same period, to $2.1 billion.
The Czech Republic made a strong showing, even though it is hardly a major player. Units were up 227.4 percent comparing April of 2023 to the same month last year, yet it was down by 20 percent in dollars over the same period, coming in at $123.6 million this year.
The only country in the top 10 not registering a decrease was Mexico, where growth in MSME units was up 116.3 percent April this year over April 2022 but down ever so slightly in dollars, 0.77 percent to $8.6 billion. America’s southern neighbor may be benefitting from an accelerating trend in nearshoring, with the likes of Shein reportedly looking at investing in a factory there. Mexico could also be taking a bite out of China’s totals. The first four months of this year it was up 39.9 percent in units over the first four months of 2022.
Malaysia took a hit, going down 41.57 percent to $63 million comparing April 2023 over April 2022. It similarly showed a decrease of 43.2 percent in units comparing the same two periods.
India and Pakistan also registered declines. India declined 21.77 percent to $3.2 billion comparing April 2023 to April 2022, but was down 34.1 percent in MSME units comparing the same two periods. Pakistan fell 24.46 percent to $6.8 billion comparing April 2023 to April 2022.
Strong supplier Vietnam fell also, by 26.76 percent, from $6.4 billion in April 2022 to $4.7 billion this year, and dropped 36 percent in units. Bangladesh dropped to $2.8 billion in April from $3.4 billion a year earlier.
The United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement that went into effect in mid-2020 seems to have brought little to the collective table so far. Like Mexico, Canada this past year saw a 1.7 percent decline to roughly $2.3 billion comparing April 2023 to April last year.
Covid-related decreases in the textiles and apparel sector are unlikely to be remedied soon. The pandemic engendered sweeping lifestyle changes that have consumers needing less clothing and more casual options overall while creating a need in those consumers to waste less and dispose of less to protect the environment. Some also want sustainable and organic options which cost more, translating into tighter budgets that will exacerbate the decline in consumption.
