Bangladesh overtakes China again in apparel exports to US

Bangladesh retained the second position in garment exports to the US market in the January-July period this year as China’s apparel exports to the American market fell at their steepest rate.

Earlier, in January-February this year, Bangladesh overtook China for the first time in garment shipments to the USA as the Trump administration imposed higher tariffs on imports of Chinese garment items.

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Also, in the January-July period of this year, Bangladesh retained its position although the country’s garment exports to the USA fell 6.50 percent year-over-year to $4.66 billion because of lower demand for locally made apparel in the American market, according to data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), the data provider of global apparel imports by the US.

In July this year alone, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US fell 10.73 percent, according to the OTEXA data.

Also, overall US apparel imports fell 8.65 percent year-on-year in January-July 2026, totaling $41.83 billion.

China’s shipments of apparel to the US fell 34.21 percent year-on-year to $4.55 billion, while in the case of India, they fell by 25.77 percent to $2.45 billion, and Pakistan’s by 5.60 percent to $1.26 billion.

At the same time, garment shipments from Vietnam fell by 1.03 percent to $9.36 billion.

Meanwhile, Indonesia posted a gain of 2.76 percent year-on-year to $2.74 billion and Cambodia a rise of 10.48 percent to $2.62 billion, the OTEXA data also said.

By piece count, Bangladesh, China and India’s apparel exports to the US fell by 4.34 percent, 24.17 percent and 24.02 percent, respectively.

But unit prices increased to some extent for Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Unit prices fell across the board, led by China at 13.24 percent, and in the case of Bangladesh, the rate fell by a moderate 2.26 percent.