VIETNAM TEXTILE AND APPAREL EXPORTS CONTINUE TO SURGE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP TERMS MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER

VIETNAM TEXTILE AND APPAREL EXPORTS CONTINUE TO SURGE

TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP TERMS MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JULY 10, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to new U.S. government data, Vietnam’s textile and apparel exports to the U.S. have continued to surge in 2014. Vietnam’s apparel sector is also positioned to gain additional advantages under a proposed new free trade agreement that will bolster their ability to penetrate the U.S. market.

In a year-over-year comparison, the top apparel suppliers to the U.S. showed a decrease in exports for the first five months of 2014, with the exception of Vietnam, according to recently released Commerce Department data.  Vietnam’s meteoric rise now ranks it as the second largest supplier of textiles and apparel to the U.S. market. Since 2007, Vietnam’s total textile and apparel exports to the U.S. have doubled. Vietnam is currently responsible for 11.5% of all U.S. apparel imports.

“Vietnam has become a dominant player in the U.S. textile and apparel market, demonstrating tremendous export growth without any free trade agreement preferences,” said Auggie Tantillo, President and CEO of NCTO. “Vietnam’s export surge necessitates the need for a well-crafted and balanced Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. The terms of this agreement are absolutely critical to the stability of the U.S. textile sector and the entire textile and apparel production chain throughout the Western Hemisphere.”

“It is critical that the U.S. mitigates this risk by adopting fair and reasonable textile rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Tantillo continued. “Any final TPP must contain provisions that have been the foundation of U.S. trade agreements over the past 25 years, specifically fair rules of origin, common sense market access rules, and strong customs enforcement provisions.”

U.S. textile and apparel imports from Vietnam have grown from $49 million in 2001 to $8.8 billion in 2013.  The country’s annual export growth has routinely topped 15%. Vietnam stands to gain even greater access to the U.S. market upon conclusion of the TPP agreement and any preferential duty treatment the agreement affords.

According to U.S. government data for 2014, the U.S. imported $3.8 billion worth of textiles and apparel from Vietnam from January-May, a 14% increase over shipments during the same five month period in 2013.  Year-to-date, Vietnamese apparel exports to the U.S. have seen large increases in categories important to U.S. and Western Hemisphere textile and apparel producers, including:

  • Women’s/Girls’ Knit Cotton Blouses up 12.4% to $465 million
  • Men’s/Boys’ Woven Cotton Shirts up 18.5% to $92 million
  • Men’s/Boys’ Cotton Trousers up 16.5% to $177 million
  • Women’s/Girls’ Cotton Trousers up 7.9% to $359 million
  • Cotton Underwear up 10.0% to $157 million
  • Man Made Fiber Women’s/Girls’ Coats up 24.3% to $106 million
  • Man Made Fiber Dresses up 22.3% to $243 million
  • Man Made Fiber Men’s/Boys’ Knit Shirts up 20.5% to $164 million
  • Man Made Fiber Men’s/Boys’ Trousers up 15% to $170 million
  • Man Made Fiber Women’s/Girls’ Trousers up 35.9% to $183 million

Contact: Eliza Levy – elevy@ncto.org