RMG exports to US reached to $5.64b in Jan-Aug
Business Desk :
The country’s exports of readymade garments to the United States grew robustly by 19.83 per cent reaching $5.64 billion in the January-August period of 2025.
According to the latest data published by the US Office of Textiles and Apparel, Bangladeshi exporters exported RMG items worth $4.71 billion in the same period of 2024.
During the reporting period, Bangladesh outpaced almost all its major competitors in export growth to the US, its single-largest export destination.
However, exporters said that the OTEXA published the data of August, while reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US came into effect on August 7. This means that the data after tariff implementation has yet to be released.
The country might see a downturn in the coming months due to tariff issues.
The exports to the US have already started facing a decline trend for the past two months, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data, which publishes about two months ahead of the Otexa data.
In the single month of August, the US imported RMG items worth $661 million from Bangladesh, a 7.5 per cent higher from that of $615 million in August of 2024, the OTEXA data stated.
In terms of volume, Bangladeshi RMG exports to the US also grew by 18.55 per cent to 1.8 billion square metres in the first eight months of 2025, up from 1.52 billion square metres exported in the same period of 2024.
As the third-largest supplier to the US, Bangladesh’s market share in the North American country stood at 10.22 per cent as of August 2025.
According to OTEXA data, the North American country imported apparel items worth $53 billion in January-August of 2025, a 3.33 per cent increase from $51.29 billion in the same period of 2024.
Amid the ongoing trade war between the US and China, Vietnam remained the top exporter for the past several months, surpassing China.
In January-August, Vietnam’s apparel exports grew by 15.73 per cent to $11 billion, surpassing the $9.55 billion recorded in the same period in 2024. Vietnam held a 20.35 per cent market share.
As the second-largest exporter, China again recorded negative growth of 21.07 per cent to $7.97 billion in January-August of 2025, down from $10.7 billion in the same period of 2024, and its market share dropped to 17.04 per cent.
Followed by Bangladesh, India secured the fourth position on the US market with a market share of 6.43 per cent.