Trade war proves a boon for apparel

Bangladesh's apparel exports to the US grew 16.09 per cent year-on-year to $637 million in January amid the US-China trade war.

Apart from Bangladesh, four other countries, which are among the top 10 garment producers worldwide, also saw their shipment to the US market rise in January, according to data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) of the US.

Garment exports from Vietnam grew 4.25 per cent to $1.39 billion, from Indonesia 3.48 per cent to $445 million, from Cambodia 25.61 per cent to $319 million and from Honduras 1.07 per cent to 155 million year-on-year, OTEXA data showed.

The increased earnings from apparel shipments to the US, Bangladesh's main export destination for garment products, came from previously placed work orders and due to the trade war between China and the US, said MA Jabbar, managing director of DBL Group, a leading garments exporter.

A fair amount of work orders has shifted from China to Bangladesh owing to the continued conflict between two major economies, the US and China, for the past two years, according to industry insiders.

Although Bangladesh seemed to benefit from the trade conflict, the garment export may come under pressure in the coming months because of the fast-spreading coronavirus in the world and in particular in the developed economies that are also the country's major export destinations.

"Our exports may also be in trouble if the coronavirus situation in Europe and the US does not improve soon. The crisis being faced by these two markets [the US and China] has only deepened after the outbreak was declared a pandemic," Jabbar told The Daily Star by phone.

Since the supply chain for raw materials from China is improving gradually, production may soon return to normalcy as well, said KI Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association. "However, those involved in the garment industry should remain cautious," he said in a statement.

China's apparel exports to the US dipped by 31.68 per cent to $2.47 billion and consignments to India dropped by 0.18 per cent to $720 million.

The Pakistan market for China shrank 4.34 per cent to $261 million and shipments to Mexico decreased by 10.57 per cent to $304 million and South Korea by 10.30 per cent to $80 million.