Bangladesh was the third largest apparel source for the United States last year with a 9.75 percent share of the latter’s total apparel import. The share was 8.76 percent in 2021, according to the Bangladesh Garment manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The United States imported $9.74 bn worth apparel from Bangladesh in 2022, a rise of 36.38 percent over the figure of $7.16 bn in 2021. The figure was $5.40 bn in 2018, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said in a recent letter to its members and colleagues.
Between 2017 and 2022, US apparel import from Bangladesh increased at a compounded annual growth rate of 13.99 percent, whereas similar US imports overall grew by 4.50 percent annually, Bangladesh reported. Apparel imports from China to the United States posted a 10.83 percent 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 bn in 2018. It increased to $14.37 in 2021 and reached $18.24 bn in 2022, the letter read.
Other top countries having mentionable growth in 2022 were Cambodia 28.46 percent, South Korea 25.08 percent, Pakistan 24 percent, Honduras 19.85 percent and Mexico 11.5 percent. The share of these countries also increased during that year.
“There are 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.
