While US President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ approach to curb imports of several products might have been a cause for concern to India, the apparel sector seems to be an exception. During the January-November period of 2017, India emerged as the only large apparel-sourcing destination other than Vietnam to post a jump in exports to the US.
According to the US government trade data, among the top five apparel exporters to the country, Vietnam posted a 7.42 per cent growth in exports, while India saw its exports rising 2.19 per cent during the period on a year-on-year basis, show data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa), under the US Department of Commerce. For India, the growth came despite its overall month-wise apparel export growth declining October and November 2017.