U.S. imports of two key cotton apparel products were very weak in January 2008, cotton underwear and t-shirts. Imports of cotton underwear plunged 28.3 percent to 8.980 million square meters, and cotton t-shirts dropped 4.5 percent to 72.485 million square meters, while cotton outerwear imports were flat at 63.505 million square meters.

In cotton outerwear, January imports from Mexico and China sharply declined, while imports from Pakistan were up 34 percent and Vietnam 134.4 percent. Vietnam was the fifth largest supplier of cotton outerwear to the U.S. during the month and has also quickly become a major supplier of cotton t-shirts. In January, cotton t-shirt imports from Vietnam surged 134.3 percent to 3.501 million square meters, pushing Vietnam into position as the eighth largest supplier.

After reviewing January import data for cotton t-shirts, underwear and outerwear, it quite obvious that U.S. retailers are continuing to shift away from Mexico and China and more toward CAFTA, Pakistan and Vietnam suppliers.