This week, the U.S. Fashion Industry Association published our tenth annual Sourcing Trends and Outlook report (available free of charge to USFIA members and affiliates), covering five main trade data trends and providing a peek into the “crystal ball” at the future of textile, apparel, and fashion sourcing and trade policy.
This year’s top trend: While China remains the major supplier to the U.S. market, they are no longer a dominant supplier. This finding tracks with the American Chamber of Commerce in China’s 25th annual China Business Climate Survey report that we covered last week. The AmCham China report found that, for the first time, companies are less willing to invest in China and China’s strategic priority is declining.
So, if China is no longer a dominant supplier in the U.S., who is challenging them?
Türkiye is the new top supplier of U.S. fabric imports, with a 15% share by quantity. China ranks as the number two supplier, shipping 13% of U.S. fabric imports by quantity.
If there is a success story from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s the Turkish textile and apparel industry’s agility, allowing it to meet the nearshoring and flexibility in production with no-stock that the “new normal” required of the global apparel supply chain. U.S. imports from Türkiye grew rapidly during the pandemic, going from the tenth largest supplier of textiles and apparel in 2020 to the sixth largest in 2021 and now the third largest in 2022.
USFIA’s Sourcing Partner, IHKIB, also shared the priorities for the Turkish apparel industry in 2022 and 2023. Here’s what they had to say:
The Turkish apparel industry is also far ahead of its competitors in many areas including sustainability and an eco-friendly approach to production. Now, with the announcement of the European Green Deal, another traditional competitive feature of the industry will fit to the emerging sustainable global apparel supply chain: good-quality durable apparel goods with less resource-consuming, but still stylish, materials!
The apparel industry of Türkiye has recently announced the roadmap towards sustainability and green production, including digitalization and the establishment of a circular supply chain in apparel with our esteemed international partners. All the efforts of the industry are to increase the added value in production, the sustainable design and fashion capability of the industry, and rise the unit export price in apparel exports.
Interested in our other top sourcing trends, like where to find new sourcing opportunities? Our Sourcing Trends and Outlook report is free to all USFIA members and affiliates. Contact us to join today!