In the first three quarters of this year, the unit price of clothing imports from the United States to China decreased by 5.5% year-on-year, while the unit price of imports from other regions increased. Therefore, the decline in clothing imports from the United States to China was smaller than that of other countries. Statistics show that the total import volume of clothing from the United States decreased by 25.2% in the first three quarters of this year, and the import volume to China decreased by 23.9%.
However, in the cotton clothing series, China’s share continues to decline. In the third quarter of this year, the import volume of cotton clothing from the United States to China decreased by 36.1% year-on-year, while the overall decline in cotton clothing imports was only 29.7%.
In the chemical fiber clothing series, the import volume of the United States to China decreased by 21.8% year-on-year in the first three quarters, and the overall decrease in US chemical fiber clothing imports was 23.1%. The rebound in China’s share also reflects some difficulties faced by other production areas, such as raw material shortages.
In terms of quantity, China accounts for 35.3% of US clothing imports, while Vietnam and Bangladesh account for 15.9% and 11.6% of US clothing imports, respectively. In terms of import volume, China’s proportion is only 22.5%, Vietnam’s proportion is 18.6%, and Bangladesh’s proportion is 9.9%.
From a data perspective, China has been affected by domestic oversupply, resulting in a decrease in the unit price of clothing exports, which has led American buyers to focus on lower cost clothing categories. In cotton knitted shirts (Project 338 and 339), the unit price in China decreased by 15.4% and 15.1% respectively, while in Bangladesh, the unit price increased by 5% and 7% respectively.
In the first three quarters, the unit price increase in Vietnam was relatively limited, and market share in many categories is expected to rebound. Although clothing procurement in the United States has begun to “de Sinicize”, the US market is currently focusing on small suppliers, so Chinese exporters can still benefit from a market with significantly declining consumption.