Bangladesh beats competitors in RMG export growth to US

Bangladesh has outpaced competitor countries to attain the highest year-on-year growth in apparel shipments to the US market in January, as American retailers and brands are placing large volumes of work orders here to capitalise on the favourable tariff regime.

Last January, garment exports to the United States from Bangladesh increased by 45.93% year-on-year to $799.65 million, according to data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) of the US.

Exporters said this happened as the Trump administration raised tariffs on imports from China and Mexico, creating an advantage for Bangladesh in the US market.

In the run-up to the presidential election, Trump had declared that he would impose high tariffs on goods imported from China, Mexico, and other countries if elected.

Right after taking office, he increased the tariff on Chinese goods from 25%, which he had set during his last tenure as US president, to 35%.

On the other hand, Bangladeshi exporters have long faced a 15.62% duty on exports to the US. Under the current circumstances, Bangladesh has the opportunity to increase exports to the world's number one economic country.

In January, the US imported garment items worth $7.20 billion from all over the world, marking a year-on-year growth of 19.46%.

Meanwhile, China's apparel exports to the US rose by 13.72% to $1.60 billion.

Correspondingly, Vietnam secured 19.90% growth to reach $1.44 billion, India 33.64% to $473.27 million, Indonesia 41.70% to $419.95 million, Cambodia 29.95% to $324.99 million, and Mexico 1.20% to $193.70 million.

In the July–February period of the current fiscal year 2024–25, Bangladesh's garment exports worldwide totalled $26.80 billion.

This represents substantial growth of 10.64% from the $24.22 billion attained during the same period last fiscal year.