For the first two months of the year imports of denim apparel by the US increased 6.03 per cent. US jeans imports from China grew 1.89 per cent in the first two months of the year compared to the same period last year. China has a 24.15 per cent share of the US denim market. In the same period US imports of denim apparel from Vietnam jumped 35.85 per cent. Jeans imports from Mexico increased 13.03 per cent. Mexico is next to China and has a 21.39 per cent share of the US market.

Imports from the western hemisphere, including Mexico and the countries of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), saw a gain of 9.93 per cent. Among CAFTA countries, Nicaragua’s shipments rose 16.82 per cent for the first two months of 2019 compared to the same period a year earlier. Jeans imports from Guatemala increased 58.94 per cent. But shipments from Columbia fell 14.64 per cent.

Jeans shipments to the US from Bangladesh fell 5.81 per cent. Shipments from Pakistan dropped 7.45 per cent and those from Cambodia fell 13.92 per cent. However imports from Indonesia increased 20.81 per cent. Sri Lanka’s shipments increased 3.63 per cent and shipments from India rose 63.33 per cent.