Bangladesh remains the third largest apparel source for the USA in 2022 with a 9.75% share of its total apparel import, which was 8.76% in 2021, said BGMEA President Faruque Hassan in a recent letter to its members and colleagues.

In 2022, USA’s clothing import from Bangladesh grew by 36.38% year-over-year. The USA imported US$ 9.74 billion worth of apparel from Bangladesh in 2022 which was US$ 7.16 billion in 2021 and US$ 5.40 billion in 2018, the letter said.

USA is one of the major apparel importers for Bangladesh as well as for the world. In the last five years (2017-2022), USA’s apparel import from Bangladesh has increased by 13.99% CAGR whereas their import from the world has grown by 4.50% annually.

China, being the top apparel import source for the USA and having a 21.75 % share, posted 10.83% year-over-year growth in 2022 in dollar value. On the other hand, Vietnam remains in the second position. The value of USA’s clothing from Vietnam was US$ 12.21 billion in 2018 which increased to US$ 14.37 in 2021 and reached US$18.24 billion in 2022, the letter reads.

Other top countries having mentionable growth were Cambodia 28.46%, South Korea 25.08%, Pakistan 24%, Honduras 19.85% and Mexico 11.50% in 2022. The share of these countries also increased during the mentioned year. 

“Since the share of Bangladesh in USA’s apparel import is only 9.75%, we have a huge opportunity to increase the share further. Bangladesh has already gained the top position in USA’s denim imports very recently. There are few more product categories where we have potential to further penetrate,” the president said in the letter.

“There have been few issues in trade between the USA and Bangladesh, especially the cotton fumigation requirement while importing cotton from the USA. Our government has already waived the mandatory fumigation requirement for importing cotton from the USA. This will certainly reduce the time and cost of business of our importers,” it noted.