Central American Apparel, Textile Imports Rise 17 Percent
U.S. apparel and textile imports from Central America have jumped 17 percent over the last year. For some time now, the region has been a major apparel producer for the United States. But production has improved in recent years after the Dominican Republic–Central American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 2006.The biggest gains have been from El Salvador, whose apparel and textile exports to the United States were up nearly 27 percent to $1.8 billion for the period ending in May this year, according to the U.S. Office of Textiles and Apparel. About $1.2 billion of that was cotton apparel.Another major winner in apparel growth was Honduras, which is still Central America’s powerhouse when it comes to garment manufacturing. Honduras exported $2.57 billion in clothing and textiles to the United States, which was a 20 percent improvement from the same period a year ago.Guatemala, whose apparel and textile production is the third largest in the region, saw only a 6.5 percent uptick in exports, which totaled $1.2 billion. The majority of Guatemala’s apparel exports are T-shirts destined for retailers such as Kohl’s, Target and Walmart.The Dominican Republic, which used to be the place where almost all Dockers pants were made by Levi Strauss & Co., had healthy gains of 8.5 percent for apparel exports, which totaled $653 million.The only country that saw a dip in exports to the United States was Costa Rica. Its exports dropped 15 percent to $168 million. Cotton-socks exports plummeted 83 percent to $6.4 million while cotton-underwear exports inched up nearly 14 percent to $95 million.—Deborah Belgum
