ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The US International Trade Commission/USITC is investigating 5 Asian garment exporting countries regarding their industrial status and export competitiveness.
The five countries currently under supervision by the United States are Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.
The US Trade Representative in a letter on December 20 2023 has asked the US International Trade Commission to conduct an investigation and prepare a report regarding the status of the export competitiveness of the apparel industry in all the largest clothing suppliers – Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan – to the US market .
“As requested, USITC, an independent and non-partisan federal agency, will prepare a public report,” wrote USITC via its official website, quoted on Sunday, January 28, 2024.
This report will at least include a number of points, including a comparison of the relative market share of the US owned by Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan now, five years and ten years ago, a specific profile of the apparel industry, and a general literature review regarding key determinants driving export competitiveness in the global apparel industry.
It is planned that this report will be submitted by USITC to the US Trade Representative on August 30 2024.
NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas stated that he agreed with this investigation. Kim said the study could help spot changes in global textile and apparel trade as well as growth in import market share.
“This will create greater transparency in these countries’ trade practices as well as the scope of their reach into the US market,” he said.
It said it had long called for a review of US textile trade policies and the related negative impacts of aggressive predatory practices carried out by foreign competitors. This is because US textile and apparel manufacturers are considered to be competing in one of the most unequal economic competitive arenas of any segment of the manufacturing industry.
Kim claimed that a number of countries in the study had engaged in “unfair trade practices” and added that these countries used forced or child labor and made workers work in unsafe conditions, as well as polluting the environment with little government oversight.
In early January 2024, the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa) released data for November 2023. In this data, Cambodia is one of the 10 largest supplier countries that experienced an increase in shipping volume in November 2023.
Apparel imports from India to the US were recorded to have fallen by 9%, to 69MM2, shipping volumes from Pakistan fell 20% to 52MM2 and Indonesia recorded the largest decline in shipping volumes to the US, namely -35% year-on-year (yoy) to 51MM2. Bangladesh also recorded a decline for the fourth consecutive month with shipping volumes down 14% to 144MM2. (ATN)
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