BGMEA says Bangladesh 3rd largest apparel source for US in 2022
Fibre2Fashion
Bangladesh was the third largest apparel source for the United States last year with a 9.75 per cent share of the latter’s total apparel imports. The share was 8.76 per cent in 2021, according to the Bangladesh Garment manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA
The United States imported $9.74 billion worth apparel from Bangladesh in 2022, a rise of 36.38 per cent over the figure of $7.16 billion in 2021. The figure was $5.40 billion in 2018, BGMEA president Faruque Hassan said in a recent letter to its members and colleagues.
Between 2017 and 2022, US apparel imports from Bangladesh increased at a compounded annual growth rate of 13.99 per cent, whereas similar US imports overall grew by 4.5 per cent annually, Bangladesh media outlets reported.
Apparel imports from China to the United States posted a 10.83 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth last year in dollar value.
Vietnam ranked second, with the value of US clothing imported from there being $12.21 billion in 2018. It increased to $14.37 in 2021 and reached $18.24 billion in 2022, the letter read.
Other top countries having mentionable growth in 2022 were Cambodia 28.46 per cent, South Korea 25.08 per cent, Pakistan 24 per cent, Honduras 19.85 per cent and Mexico 11.5 per cent. The share of these countries also increased during that year.
“There are [a] few more product categories where we have potential to further penetrate,” the letter noted.
On trade issues, especially the cotton fumigation requirement while importing cotton from the United States, Dhaka has already waived the mandatory requirement, and that will certainly reduce the time and cost of business of importers of garments from Bangladesh, it added.
