US apparel imports to India witness growth

Here is a contradiction of sorts. While owing to the

on-going economic slump, textile and clothing exports from India to the US have witnessed a slump with low or no orders surprisingly, American apparel import to the country has seen a steady growth. Today, India has become one among the three fastest growing markets for US apparels in the first five months of 2012.

This is happening at the time when the domestic US manufacturing sector is reeling under the impact of a continuing slowdown. Besides, the US dollar has appreciated sharply against the rupee during much of the year, which renders American exports to India even less competitive.

Data from the US Department of Commerce shows that during January to May 2012, apparel exports from US to India shot up by over 36 per cent, though the total value of the exported clothing articles is relatively small at $20.32 million. The two top export items to India are ‘coats and jackets’ for men and ‘slacks, shorts, pants’ for women.

While India has, in the past, resorted to importing specialised yarn, hosiery products as well as speciality industrial fabrics from the US, mostly for re-exports back to the American market, the new trend of rising apparel exports from the US to India does come as a surprise. Much of the apparel imports could be high-end designer wear stocked at upmarket stores in the metros, the report said.

Despite the surge in US apparel exports to India, the balance of trade in textile and apparel is overwhelmingly in favour of India. As against exports worth $165 million (Rs 914 crores) from the US to India during 2011, India’s total textile and clothing exports to the US stood at $5.93 billion (Rs 32,864 crores) in the same year.