India Threatens China’s Dominance of U.S. Textile Imports

U.S. textile imports from India surged in the first four months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, helping India to gain significant share of the US textile market. After steadily losing share of total US textile import dollars in 2011, primarily to Vietnam and Indonesia, India continues to gain year-to-date share – 1.4 percentage points – of any top 10 trading partner, reaching a 12.3% share of U.S. textile imports, second only to China.
Pakistan lost the most share of US textile imports, with a 0.7 point loss. Canada and Mexico also lost share in the period.
There have been significant increases in yarns and home textiles (such as bedding and towels) from India compared to last year, and similar decreases from Pakistan.
China’s share increased slightly compared to the first four months of last year, and remains the largest textile trading partner, at almost 46% of the total, or year-to-date dollar volume of $3.4 billion. Imports of cotton knit fabric, cotton yarns and pile/tufted fabrics from China all sustained double-digit increases.
The dollar value of U.S. textile imports increased 5.3% for the January to April period in 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, while units (square meter equivalent) rose negligibly.