European Union’s of trousers imports in volume jumped 7.82 per cent during the first five months of 2018. The value, however, declined by 1.16 per cent. The fall in value is possibly due to low unit prices offered by all top exporting hubs such as China, Bangladesh, India and Vietnam.

The import value of trousers from China fell 7.64 per cent. The import value of trousers from Bangladesh fell 0.09 per cent. Vietnam is fiercely moving to outpace India’s share in the EU market as far as trousers are concerned. Vietnam is growing significantly while India is losing out. Till May this year, Vietnam’s trouser exports to the EU grew 5.09 per cent however, India’s trouser exports to the EU fell by 5.60 per cent.

The rise of Bangladesh and Vietnam indicates European buyers are more interested in placing orders in these countries, while India is somehow not able to grab the shifting orders from China. India’s inability to take advantage of the rupee depreciation of around six per cent against the euro has hurt its exports. Further, the absence of a free trade agreement with the EU is clearly making products manufactured in India non-competitive as compared to countries like Bangladesh which get trade benefits by the EU.