Buyers and Fashion firms in the United States plan to increase sourcing from Bangladesh in the next two years, according to the United States Fashion Industry Association’s (USFIA) “2021 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study. As per Textile Focus, this decision is influenced by lower prices of Bangladesh produced textiles and garments. A garment product in Bangladesh was priced at $2.5 in July-May this year, while the global average price was $2.6. Respondents to the survey indicate Bangladesh offers the most competitive price, followed by China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Cambodia.
Only China offers lower prices than Bangladesh. However, US purchasers seek to diversify their sourcing away from China to reduce various sourcing risks. The US-China trade battle has intensified sourcing cost concerns and financial challenges for US fashion companies. The average duty on apparels imported from China increased to 23.4 per cent for the US in 2020 from 16.5 percent in 2017.
