Latest statistics from the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) indicate that the retail market is showing signs of gradual recovering. According to AAFA, on an average, every American spent $907 on clothing or purchased 64 garments in 2013. Although this figure is still less than the one before the 2008 financial crisis, it is the highest level since 2012.

Statistics reveal positive story

While ‘Made in USA’ is gaining momentum, US consumers still rely on imports. Data from AAFA shows that US apparel production increased 6.2 per cent from 2012 to 2013, accounting for 2.55 per cent share of US apparel market. However, nearly 98 per cent of apparel consumed in the US still relied upon imports in 2013.

Third trend, the study reveals is that China remains the top apparel supplier to the United States despite concerns over rising production cost in the country. Latest data from OTEXA shows that, in 2014 (January to November) China still accounted for 42.5 per cent of US apparel imports in terms of quantity and 39.1 per cent in terms of value–almost the highest level in history. These two numbers were 41.7 per cent and 39.9 per cent a year earlier. On the other hand, Vietnam’s market share has reached 9.3 per cent by value and 10.7 per cent by quantity in 2014 (January to November), about a fourth of China’s exports to the United States.

Job market in the US reflects continuous shift of the apparel industry. According to AAFA, among the total 2.8 million workers directly employed by the US apparel industry in 2013, only 5 per cent were in the manufacturing sector, 5 per cent were in the wholesaling sector and as many as 90 per cent were working for retailers. However, within the apparel retail sector, total employment by the department stores is quickly shrinking and dropped 7.6 per cent from 2012 to 2013 and cumulatively 21.3 per cent from 1998 to 2013. At the same time, specialty clothing stores and sporting goods stores are hiring more people: 13.8 per cent and 64.5 per cent increase of employment from 1998 to 2013 respectively.

The fifth trend in the AAFA study shows, while the overall US imports were only charged by a 1.4 per cent tariff rate, the effective duty rate on all apparel imports rose to 13.6 per cent in 2013. The higher effective duty rate may be caused by the fact that less apparel was imported utilising free trade agreement or trade preference programs.

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