Bangladesh’s RMG exports to the USA rise by 29% in Jan-Apr

Garment shipments from Bangladesh to its single largest destination, the USA, surged by 29.33 percent year-on-year to $2.98 billion in the January-April period of the year, according to data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA).

Also, the overall import of garments by the USA from the world increased by 10.65 percent year-on-year to $26.22 billion in the same period, according to OTEXA, which works with other Department of Commerce units and US agencies in advancing US competitiveness at home and abroad.

Apparel shipments to the USA have shown significant growth as US-based international clothing retailers and brands sourced goods from all over the world to escape the Trump administration's high reciprocal tariff.

US President Donald Trump imposed high reciprocal tariffs on imported goods, and the new rate was supposed to come into effect from April 9. However, just before the new tariffs came into effect, Trump announced a three-month pause, the deadline for which will end on July 9.

In his announcement, Trump also said the baseline 10 percent new tariff would be in place for all countries except China, as the tariff on Chinese goods was 145 percent.

Exporters from all over the world took advantage of the comparatively lower tariff during the three-month pause and exported goods in significant volumes to the USA.

As a result, garment exports from other countries also increased during this time.

For instance, China experienced a 0.66 percent rise in exports, while the amount stood at 20.3 percent for India, 19.57 percent for Pakistan, and 16.06 percent for Vietnam.

In terms of volume, garment exports to the USA also increased during the January-April period.

Bangladesh witnessed an increase of 28.30 percent, Vietnam 12.05 percent, China 1.80 percent, India 20.63 percent, and Pakistan 24.07 percent.

However, the unit price per piece varied across countries.

In the case of Bangladesh, the per-unit price increased by 0.80 percent, which rose by 3.58 percent for Vietnam.

However, the per-unit price decreased by 1.12 percent in the case of China, while the decline was 0.27 percent for India and 3.63 percent for Pakistan, according to the OTEXA data.