The latest US apparel import data signals a troubling trend: the market is recovering in volume, but unit prices are falling, and China's share in the world's largest consumer market is being eroded at an accelerating pace by Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.
Market Recovery with a Value-Oriented Trend
In May 2026, US apparel import volume rose 6.5% year-on-year, while import value increased 2.8%. On the surface, this suggests a demand recovery. However, the average import unit price dropped 3.5% year-on-year, pointing directly to a structural shift in the end market—consumers are increasingly favoring value products, and the share of low-cost sources in total imports is rising. Looking at a two-year horizon, the recovery appears even weaker: compared to the same period in 2024, total US apparel import volume is still down 7.4%, and total import value has fallen 4.8%. This indicates that global textile supply continues to face demand contraction pressure, making price competition the primary means of securing orders in the short term.
China's Export Data Inflated, Long-Term Share Loss Striking
At first glance, China's apparel export data to the US for May 2026 looks impressive: import volume surged 28.5% year-on-year, and import value rose 18.4%. But this growth is entirely built on an extremely low base from the same period in 2025, when US imports from China experienced a cliff-like drop. Once the base effect is removed and compared with the same period in 2024, the decline becomes stark: import volume from China plummeted 33.7%, and import value fell by a staggering 43.7%. Price pressure is also evident, with the average unit price of Chinese apparel imports falling 8% in May and the cumulative average price for January-May 2026 dropping 18.6% year-on-year. Combined with a nearly 30% decline in cumulative import volume from China in the first four months of 2026, Chinese apparel manufacturers are facing a double squeeze of shrinking order volumes and falling selling prices in the US market.
Vietnam Continues to Capture Diverted Orders, Supply Chain Restructuring Irreversible
In stark contrast to China's export woes, Vietnam's apparel exports to the US maintain stable and rapid growth, with supply chain relocation dividends continuing to be released. Comparing May 2026 with the same period in 2024, US apparel import volume from Vietnam rose 19.1%, and import value grew 19.4%, with both volume and price rising in tandem. This growth trend has persisted throughout early 2026: even during the period from January to April, when US apparel imports from China contracted sharply, imports from Vietnam still maintained a year-on-year growth rate of over 3%. These sustained figures further cement Vietnam's position as a core beneficiary in the global textile supply chain shift, with a large volume of orders originally destined for China continuing to flow to Southeast Asia.
Industry Impact: From Order Loss to Price Deflation
For Chinese textile and apparel foreign trade companies, the changes in the US market mean not only a loss of order volume but also compression of profit margins. Substitute sources like Vietnam are not just taking market share; they are also dragging down the overall price expectations in the market. As US importers become accustomed to sourcing at lower unit prices from Southeast Asia, Chinese suppliers, even if they try to win back orders by cutting prices, face structural disadvantages in terms of labor costs and tariff preferences enjoyed by Vietnam. Under this dual squeeze, small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises with high product homogeneity and lack of brand premium will be the first to suffer.