Bangladesh surpassed competitor countries to obtain the highest year-on-year growth in readymade garment (RMG) shipments to the US market in January, as American retailers and brands are placing large volumes of work orders here to capitalize on the favourable tariff regime.
In January, exports to the US 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.
Sources said this was possible as the Trump administration raised tariffs on imports from China and Mexico, creating an advantage for Bangladesh in the US market.
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%.
Bangladeshi exporters have long faced a 15.62% duty on exports to the US.
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%.
China's apparel exports to the US rose by 13.72% to $1.60 billion.
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.
For Pakistan, it was 17.50% to $179.73 million, whereas for Korea, it was 5.54% to $16.43 million.
In the July–February period of the current FY25, 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.
In February this year, garment exports reached $3.24 billion, marking modest growth of 1.66%, with woven exports slightly declining by 0.44% while knitwear exports grew by 3.77%.
