AGOA members see imports of apparel into the US fall by 23.7% in value in April 2024 compared to 2023, according to the latest figures from OTEXA, with Ethiopia particularly affected.

US apparel imports from Ethiopia dropped sharply by almost 40% between April 2023 and April 2024, according to the latest set of trade data from the United States Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA). 

Lu explained: “In value terms, only about 1.7% of US apparel imports came from AGOA members in the first four months of 2024, down from 2.0% over the same period in 2023. Particularly affected by the loss of AGOA eligibility, US apparel imports from Ethiopia sharply dropped by nearly 40% in 2024 from a year earlier.”

The news comes shortly after a US senator told a hearing on renewing and revitalising trade preference programmes the US is losing out to China in Africa with apparel manufacturer SanMar adding African countries have “so much potential” but the US won’t invest when the benefits of AGOA could expire before a return on investment.

“In recent testimony before the US Senate, some fashion apparel companies expressed explicit concerns that the pending renewal of AGOA, which is set to expire in September 2025, is holding them back from making new investments and placing sourcing orders in the region,” Lu explained.

During April, eight of the top 10 apparel suppliers to the US experienced shipment volume growth with falls only coming from China and Mexico.

US apparel import April 2024 numbers in brief

• Imports from China, the largest supplier of apparel to the US, fell the most at 15.4% in April 2024 compared to April 2023, from 571m square metre equivalents (SME) to 483m SME.
• Indonesia saw the largest increase in apparel imports during the month with a jump of 23.13% to 90m SME.
• Meanwhile Nicaragua came in among the top three suppliers in April with a shipment increase of 21.9% to 51m SME while India, the second highest climber in the month after Indonesia, saw shipment volumes increase 22.8% to 129m SME.
• Imports from Bangladesh increased 6.4% to 177m SME, while Vietnam saw US apparel imports increase 2.5% to 294m SME.
• Mexico saw US apparel imports fall 12.1% to 53m SME
• Shipments from Cambodia rose 5.2% to 70m SME
• Shipments from Pakistan rose 13.5% to 56m SME
• Honduras saw a 12.5% increase in shipments to 50m SME.

In total, the US imported 1.76bn SME of apparel in April 2024, up 4.2% compared to March 2024, but down 0.5% from a total of 1.77bn in April 2023.

“Specifically, seasonally adjusted data shows that US apparel imports in April 2024 increased by 5.7% in value and 4.2% in quantity from March,” Lu explained. “However, the import volume in April 2024 was still lower than a year ago, indicating that consumers’ total demand has not yet fully recovered.

“Consistent with the trade data, the US consumer confidence index (January 2019=100) fell again from 87.1 in March to 84.6 in April 2024, whereas the consumer price index (January 2019=100) increased from 123.6 to a new high of 124.0 over the same period. The results reveal that the pressure to deal with an uncertain financial outlook and high inflation keeps US consumers from spending more on clothing.”

Lu also noted that US apparel imports from China fell significantly again in April 2024.

“Specifically, US apparel imports from China decreased by as much as 16.7% in value and 15.5% in quantity, far worse than the world average and other top five suppliers to the US market. Particularly, measured in value, only 9.6% of US cotton apparel imports came from China in April 2024, a new record low since implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in June 2022.”

In April 2023, China had a 30.6% share of US apparel imports – in April 2024 this increased to 31.4%, although the volume of imports from China fell 15.% from 570.6m square metre equivalents (SME) to 482.6m SME.

The unit price of US apparel imports from China also dropped from $1.88 per SME in March 2024 to $1.81/SME (or down 3.9%) in April 2024.

“In contrast, the unit price of US apparel imports from elsewhere increased by 3.7% over the same period,” Lu shared. “Notably, there is rising tension about cheap Chinese goods being dumped on the world market, and it remains to be seen whether this trend will lead to a new round of repercussions against Chinese imports, including apparel products.”

“Emerging sourcing destinations beyond Vietnam and Bangladesh received more sourcing orders in April 2024,” Lu highlighted.

“While Vietnam and Bangladesh ranked as the second and third-largest apparel suppliers, US apparel imports from other emerging sourcing destinations enjoyed much faster growth in April 2024, such as India (6.7%), Indonesia (12.7%), and several CAFTA-DR members, including Guatemala (17.8%), Honduras (14.6%) and Nicaragua (11.4%). US fashion companies seem to prioritise sourcing diversification to mitigate various sourcing risks and rising geopolitical tensions.”

By Just Style