Apparel Industry Grows in Vietnam
The apparel and textile industry in Vietnam has overtaken crude oil as that country’s No. 1 export.
During the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam shipped $7.5 billion in apparel and textiles to primarily the United States and Europe, according to the Vietnamese General Statistics Office.
The Vietnamese government is now predicting that the apparel export market will bring in $9.3 billion in revenues this year, up 3 percent over last year.
Vietnam's apparel manufacturing sector has grown rapidly ever since the U.S. government early this year stopped monitoring Vietnamese apparel coming into the United States. The Bush administration feared that Vietnam would dump apparel goods on the U.S. market and started closely watching import prices in 2007 to determine whether anti-dumping duties should be imposed. The U.S. Department of Commerce held six-month reviews of five different apparel products—trousers, shirts, underwear, swimwear and sweaters—but found no signs of dumping.
After the monitoring ended, more U.S. apparel companies felt comfortable about sourcing in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation is now the No. 2 supplier of apparel to the United States, following China. During the one-year period ending Aug. 31, the United States imported $5.4 billion in apparel and textiles from Vietnam, up 3.7 percent over the same period last year. China shipped $32 billion in apparel to the United States for the 12 months ending Aug. 31.
