Imports of textiles and apparel saw substantial growth in May but were still lower than a year earlier, according to statistics from the Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel.
For more information on trade-related issues affecting textiles and apparel, please contact ST&R’s textile and apparel practice leader Elise Shibles at (415) 490-1403 or via email.
Overall Imports. Textile and apparel imports totaled 8.8 billion square meter equivalents in May, up 11.4 percent from April but down 17.6 percent from a year earlier. Textile imports totaled 6.81 billion SME, up 11.3 percent for the month but down 13.9 percent from the previous year, while apparel imports of 1.99 billion SME rose 12.4 percent from April but were down 28.1 percent from a year before.
Imports of textiles and apparel were 36.4 billion SME for the year to date in May, down 22.4 percent from a year earlier. Textile imports were 26.8 billion SME, down 19.1 percent, while apparel imports fell 30.5 percent to 9.59 billion SME.
For the year ending in May, total imports were down 12.5 percent to 95.3 million SME. Textile imports lost 10.7 percent to 68.4 billion SME while apparel imports fell 16.5 percent to 26.9 billion SME.
Source Countries. OTEXA has reported the following statistics on textile and apparel imports from major source countries for May 2023.
|
Country
|
SME
|
Monthly change %
|
Annual change %
|
YE change %
|
|
China
|
2.44 billion
|
+12.4
|
-15.4
|
-22.3
|
|
Mexico
|
811.3 million
|
+0.2
|
+210.5
|
+53.8
|
|
India
|
759.6 million
|
+8.2
|
-36.3
|
-15.9
|
|
Egypt
|
711.5 million
|
-3.7
|
+122.9
|
+35.4
|
|
Malaysia
|
631.6 million
|
+76.8
|
+14.1
|
+37.2
|
|
Vietnam
|
453.4 million
|
+3.5
|
-33.1
|
-10.3
|
|
Czech Rep.
|
408.4 million
|
-27.0
|
+265.2
|
-17.1
|
|
Turkey
|
341.9 million
|
+29.5
|
-57.7
|
+13.3
|
|
Pakistan
|
248.4 million
|
+11.6
|
-33.3
|
-15.9
|
|
Bangladesh
|
219.4 million
|
+10.1
|
-34.6
|
-14.2
|
Copyright © 2025 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.