US companies reducing exposure to Chinese textile firms amid concerns over forced labour: Report

Beijing : US companies are reducing their exposure to China’s textile and clothing suppliers with Washington remaining committed to combating forced labour issues, South China Morning Post reported citing trade data and an industry expert.
Last year, China’s share in the US apparel market fell to a decade-low of 23 per cent when measured by value, according to data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the US Department of Commerce.
In contrast, the combined market share of China’s competitors in Asia, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Cambodia, rose to a new high of more than 42 per cent in 2020, up 7 percentage points from a year earlier.
The SCMP reported that the impact of coronavirus pandemic on the economy and the tariff imposed by the United States on Chinese goods since 2018 have played a major role in China’s shrinking shipments of clothing and textiles to the US last year.
While China’s total textile and apparel exports to the US dropped by more than 30 per cent last year from a year earlier by value, its shipments of cotton related items to the US dropped by nearly 40 per cent, according to the US government data.
Specifically, only 15 per cent of US cotton apparel came from China last year, down from 22 per cent in 2019, while imports of cotton textiles from China dropped by 4 percentage points to 27 per cent last year