China’s clothing exports to the United States have always been an important part of China’s textile and clothing industry.
1. Export amount and growth
Historical data: According to historical data, the amount of Chinese clothing exports to the United States is increasing year by year.In 2021, China exported 39.6 billion US dollars of clothing to the United States, accounting for a large proportion of China’s clothing export market.
2024 data: According to China Customs statistics, from January to September 2024, China’s apparel exports to the United States were US$26.82 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, accounting for 22.7% of the country’s apparel exports, an increase of 1.4 percentage points. This shows that despite external pressures such as the decline in global economic growth, China’s apparel exports to the United States have maintained steady growth.
2. Export products and structure
Main products: China exports a wide variety of clothing products to the United States, including knitted clothing, woven clothing, clothing accessories, etc. Among them, exports of knitted T-shirts, shirts, underwear/pajamas, bras, baby clothing, etc. maintained rapid growth.
Structural features: In recent years, China’s clothing exports have shown a trend of “volume increase and price decrease”, that is, export quantity increases, but unit price decreases. This may be related to factors such as fierce competition in the international market and declining consumer purchasing power. However, the export value and quantity of knitted clothing have increased, showing its strong market competitiveness.
3. Market Competition and Opportunities
market competition: Chinese clothing faces competition from Vietnam, India, Indonesia and other countries in the US market. Relying on their cost advantages, these countries have formed a competitive situation with China in some clothing fields.
market opportunity: Despite the competitive pressure, Chinese clothing still has great room for development in the US market. On the one hand, Chinese clothing has advantages in quality, design, brand, etc.; on the other hand, as American consumers pursue cost-effectiveness, Chinese clothing’s low-price strategy may attract more consumers. In addition, the rise of emerging business formats such as cross-border e-commerce has also provided new opportunities for Chinese clothing exports to the United States.
4. Future Outlook
Challenges and opportunities coexist: In the future, China’s apparel exports to the United States will face external challenges such as the decline in global economic growth and the rise of trade protectionism. At the same time, as American consumers’ demand for personalized and differentiated products increases, Chinese apparel companies need to strengthen innovation and increase the added value of their products to cope with market changes.
Strengthen cooperation and win-win: China and the United States have a broad basis for cooperation and common interests in the textile and apparel field. In the future, both parties should strengthen cooperation and jointly promote the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of the textile and apparel industry. Achieve mutual benefit and win-win results by strengthening cooperation in technical exchanges, market expansion, brand building, etc.