Apparel Imports Take a Dip in 2008
Apparel imports are down this year by 3.3 percent to $54 million.
China still makes about one-third of all the clothing imported into the United States and is the No. 1 overseas source of U.S. garments. But during the first nine months of 2008, apparel imports from China declined 5.1 percent to nearly $17 billion, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association in Arlington, Va.
Clothing imports from Mexico, another major apparel provider, slipped 14.1 percent during the first nine months of this year to $3.1 billion. Turkey saw a 39 percent drop, Hong Kong and Taiwan were both off 17 percent, and the Philippines dipped nearly 15 percent.
Apparel shipped to the United States from Vietnam increased nearly 23 percent from January to September to $3.9 billion even though the Bush administration has been monitoring apparel imports from that Southeast Asian country since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2007.
Central American countries were helped by their membership in the Dominican Republic–Central American Free Trade Agreement. Imports from Honduras inched up nearly 11 percent. El Salvador was up 6 percent, and Nicaragua jumped nearly 20 percent. —Deborah Belgum
