According to statistics from the US Department of Commerce, the value of US apparel imports continued to fall sharply in Jun, mainly due to the decline in import prices. During the month, the import volume decreased by 1.2% year-on-year, price fell by 4.9%, and import value fell by 6.1% year-on-year.
The apparel imports in Jun continued the performance of the first half of this year: stagnant imports, falling unit prices, and falling import value. The consumption capacity of Chinese domestic market is limited, while apparel export capacity is too large, resulting in falling unit prices. In Jun, US apparel imports from China decreased by 1.5% year-on-year, unit prices fell by 6.9%, and import value fell by 8.4%.
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At the same time, the unit price of US apparel imports from other countries and regions in the world fell by 4.4% in Jun, less than the decline in the unit price of Chinese apparels, which may lead to the early arrival of US tariffs on Chinese products.
Judging from the situation in the second quarter of this year, China's share in the US apparel import market has declined, and both import volume and import value have decreased. In the second quarter, US apparel imports from China decreased by 5.9% year-on-year, and increased by 9.8% year-on-year in the first quarter. Overall, US apparel imports decreased by 1.5% year-on-year in the second quarter, while increased by 1.5% in the first quarter.
In terms of import value, US apparel imports from China decreased by 11.5% year-on-year in the second quarter, while the total US apparel import value in the second quarter decreased by only 4.9%. The unit price of Chinese apparels fell by 6%, and the average decline of apparels from all origins was 3.9%. In the second quarter, US apparel import volume from India increased by 15.7% year-on-year, the unit price fell by 9.8%, and the import value fell by 4.3%. This shift may mean that US buyers are trying to diversify their procurement sources and purchase cheaper Indian-made apparels instead.
In addition, US apparel imports from Bangladesh increased by 4.1% year-on-year in the second quarter, reversing the downward trend in previous quarters. US apparel imports from Vietnam remained stable, but the import value fell by 5.5%.
From the US domestic perspective, the U.S. apparel consumer price index (CPI) rose modestly by 0.3% year-on-year in Jun, while retail prices rose by 0.8% year-on-year. In contrast, the average import cost of cotton-based apparels fell 1.0% month-on-month and sharply fell 7.2% year-on-year, suggesting that supply chain pressures may be easing.
U.S. consumer confidence rose slightly in Jul, with the Conference Board's consumer confidence index climbing to 100.3 from 97.8 in Jun. Despite the improvement, the index is still in the typically lower range of the past two years, indicating cautious consumer optimism.
U.S. consumer spending continued to grow in Jul, with overall spending up 0.2% month-on-month and 2.6% year-on-year. Notably, apparel spending increased 1.1% year-on-year and 4.7% year-on-year, marking the strongest annual growth since early 2022, when stimulus spending was still affecting spending patterns.
