Bangladesh’s denim shipments to the US have remained stagnant for the last seven years.
Among the reasons for the slow growth are the growing popularity of overdyed fabrics and higher imports from the US' neighboring country Mexico.

In recent years, the US has increased denim imports from Mexico due to competitive prices and shorter lead times. Besides, American retailers get duty benefits for sourcing from Mexico. Bangladeshi garment imports are subjected to 15.62 per cent duty upon entry to the US, while Mexico’s wares get duty-free access. Moreover, although the US does not produce a lot of garment items for export, American manufacturers, especially those in Los Angeles, make a huge quantity of denim products.

Another important reason for the slow growth of denim exports is that US retailers purchase low-cost denim products in bulk from China.

Despite slow growth in denim exports, Bangladesh still remains the third largest supplier in the US market. Only China and Mexico supply more denim to the US than Bangladesh does.

The share of Bangladesh in the US denim markets is 12.03 per cent, while that of China and Mexico is 26.04 per cent and 25.40 per cent.

Bangladesh presently has around 30 denim producing factories.