US apparel imports are down more than five per cent on a dollar basis for the first 10 months of 2016. On a square meter equivalent (SME) basis, 2016 year-to-date imports fell by 1.4 per cent, indicating a continuing shift toward lower-cost goods compared to the prior year. The cost per SME has dropped by 3.9 per cent so far this year.

China is the largest source of US apparel imports, with a 34.9 per cent share. But even China has lost 1.4 percentage points of US apparel imports so far in 2016, with its year-to-date apparel shipments to the US down 8.3 per cent from the same period last year.

Vietnam continued to gain share of US apparel imports in October. The number two source of US apparel imports after China, Vietnam has gained 0.9 percentage points of US apparel import share, representing 13.4 per cent of total imports.

Bangladesh, which has the third largest share of US apparel imports, saw its share of US apparel imports grow. Indonesia’s apparel shipments to the US are down by 4.2 per cent so far this year, an almost six per cent share. Apparel imports from Cambodia and Pakistan dropped the most of any top ten trading partner so far this year, down around 14 per cent each.