Average price of US garment imports from China drop by up to 20%

China’s unfair trade practices are severely impacting the American textiles and apparel sector, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which raised concerns on social media platform X. Over the past 22 months, these practices have contributed to the closure of 28 US manufacturing plants. In 2024, China accounted for 21 per cent of US apparel imports, worth $79.3 billion. Meanwhile, Chinese e-commerce companies have been flooding the US market with low-cost apparel, often bypassing tariffs and evading trade enforcement mechanisms. These firms are responsible for over 30 per cent of all daily de minimis shipments.

In January 2025, the average price of apparel imports by the US from China was $32.34 per dozen, which was 18 per cent lower than the average price of $39.44 per dozen in 2019. The average price was 20 per cent lower in the case of larger garments, with prices dropping to $19.65 per piece in the first month of 2025 from $24.61 per piece in 2019. The price of other types of garments imported in dozen pairs decreased by 6.89 per cent to $6.21 in January 2025, compared to an average price of $6.67 per dozen pairs in 2019, according to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro.

The decreasing average price of garments imported into the US from China does not reflect general inflationary pressures over the years. The analysis supports the recent US allegations that cheaper imports from China are damaging its domestic textile and apparel industry.

The average price of imported garments declined by 7.44 per cent in January 2025 compared to the average price of $21.23 per piece in 2024. The price of garments imported by the dozen also dropped by 4.71 per cent this year, from $33.94 per dozen in 2024. Meanwhile, garments imported in dozen pairs recorded a 3.72 per cent fall in average price in January 2025, down from $6.45 per dozen pairs in 2024, as per TexPro.

The US imported 49.033 million dozen units, 29.545 million dozen pairs, and 590,888 individual apparel pieces from China in January 2025. In 2024, the quantities stood at 474.493 million dozen units, 340.412 million dozen pairs, and 4,478,693 pieces.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)