Total exports of textiles and garments from Vietnam to the USA gained a year-on-year increase of 11.7 per cent to US$9.88 billion from January to November 2015. According to the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), during these 11 months, the export value to other major export markets of Viet Nam’s textile and garment was also optimistic with $3.09 billion to the EU, $2.53 billion to Japan and $1.98 billion to South Korea.
Viet Nam’s textile and garment exports to the USA are expected to gain much higher when the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) takes effect.
Textiles and garments is one of Vietnam?s most important export sectors. With 2 million workers, a quarter of all industrial employment and 2,500 enterprises, the textiles? and clothing industry represents a key source of industrial employment, especially for women, and is a leading industry for overall growth and industrialization.
Vietnam?s meteoric rise now ranks it as the second largest supplier of textiles and apparel to the U.S. market. Since 2007, Vietnam?s total textile and apparel exports to the U.S. have doubled. Vietnam is currently responsible for 11.5 per cent of all U.S. apparel imports.
?Vietnam has become a dominant player in the U.S. textile and apparel market, demonstrating tremendous export growth without any free trade agreement preferences,? said Auggie Tantillo, President and CEO of NCTO (National Council of Textile Organisations). ?Vietnam?s export surge necessitates the need for a well-crafted and balanced Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. The terms of this agreement are absolutely critical to the stability of the U.S. textile sector and the entire textile and apparel production chain throughout the Western Hemisphere.?
?It is critical that the U.S. mitigates this risk by adopting fair and reasonable textile rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership,? Tantillo continued. ?Any final TPP must contain provisions that have been the foundation of U.S. trade agreements over the past 25 years, specifically fair rules of origin, common sense market access rules, and strong customs enforcement provisions.?